Joe Apu
Olympics Chief, Thomas Bach, yesterday, agreed that 2021 was the “last option” for holding the delayed Tokyo Games, stressing that postponement cannot go on forever.
Bach said he backed Japan’s stance that the Games will have to be cancelled if the coronavirus pandemic isn’t under control by next year.
In March, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were postponed to July 23, 2021, over the coronavirus, which has killed hundreds of thousands around the world and halted international sports and travel.
“Quite frankly, I have some understanding for (Japan’s position) because you cannot forever employ 3,000, or 5,000, people in an organising committee,” Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, stated on BBC monitored in Lagos.
“You cannot every year change the entire sports schedule worldwide for all the major federations.
“You cannot have the athletes being in uncertainty; you cannot have so much overlapping with a future Olympic Games.”
The IOC leader said it was a “mammoth task” to reorganise the Olympics, which have never been cancelled outside of the world wars.
However, Japanese officials have been clear that they have no intention of postponing the Games again beyond next year.