Olympic organizers undeterred: Same schedule, same arenas

They should follow the same schedule as the Games originally planned for this summer, the Coordination Commission of the International Olympic Committee and Japan's organizers decided in a meeting on Thursday. The President of the IOC Coordination Commission, John Coates, dodged pressing questions from journalists about what should happen if the pandemic is not under control by then. The recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) will continue to be followed, said Coates at an online press conference in Tokyo held on the video service YouTube. The Summer Games in Tokyo were supposed to be held from July 24th to August 9th, but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The new opening date is July 23, 2021. The Olympic organizers want to present a precise timetable for the organization and staging of the games by May. IOC covers Corona costs The focus will also be on reducing costs arising from the postponement. Coates spoke of “significant” costs. The IOC is currently examining the exact scope. He assured the sports associations of financial support during the Corona crisis. “We will not wait and watch as the international associations collapse. We will help them,” Coates said. IOC President Thomas Bach recently said in an interview World on Sunday said: “For us, the IOC, there will be additional costs of several hundred million dollars, that can already be said.” Those responsible for the Olympics in Japan also want to save costs. “We will review services at the Games in all areas,” said the head of the Japanese organizing committee, Toshiro Muto. Tokyo organizers would be “very strict” with cost-cutting measures. Some experts estimate the additional costs at three to six billion dollars. The total of 43 competition venues will continue to be used next year as originally planned. However, complicated discussions are ongoing with the owners, some private and some public. “We don’t have any conclusion on this yet,” Muto said. The same applies to the Olympic Village. The eleven construction companies were asked to be allowed to use the same buildings as originally planned in 2021, but consultations were still ongoing, said Coates. Corona is spreading rapidly in Japan The official expressed confidence that Japan would take appropriate measures against the coronavirus at the Olympics. So far, however, the virus is spreading there so much that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe felt compelled on Thursday to extend the state of emergency, which previously only applied to Tokyo and a few other provinces, to the entire country. Previously, there had been increasingly clear criticism of Japan's handling of the crisis. Doctors and international observers criticize the government for keeping the number of cases low for a long time by using sparse testing and ordering measures against the spread too late and too little. By Thursday, the number of confirmed infections in Japan had risen to more than 9400 and more than 190 people had died. Bach recently did not comment specifically on speculation that the games could not take place in 2021 due to the further spread of the coronavirus. “The top priority, of course, remains the health of the athletes and everyone involved in the Games as well as containing the virus. We will also base our future decisions on this,” he said. From the perspective of the host Tokyo, a postponement to 2022 was not conceivable.

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Olympic organizers undeterred: Same schedule, same arenas

Japan has to impose a state of emergency across the entire country because of the coronavirus, but the Olympic organizers are undeterred in preparing for the Games in Tokyo, which will be postponed to next year.

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