Three months to decide Games’ fate, warns IOC’S Pound
Britain has ruled out emergency measures to switch the Olympics to London after an international committee member gave Tokyo a threemonth deadline to avert the coronavirus threat.
Dick Pound, the longest-serving member of the International Olympic Committee, suggested yesterday there was a risk of cancellation in Japan if the virus was not contained by the end of May. However, the British Olympic Association moved to underline confidence in Japanese organisers after a London mayoral candidate previously caused offence in Tokyo by suggesting the Games should be moved to the British capital.
Yuriko Koike, Tokyo’s governor, reacted angrily after Shaun Bailey, the Conservative candidate for mayor, said organisers should “seriously consider” London “given the ongoing disruption” caused by the outbreak. In response, the BOA told the Tokyo organising committee and the IOC that Bailey’s ideas did not reflect those of British sport.
The message from the BOA spells out that Britain remains supportive of the Games taking place in Tokyo despite Pound also saying yesterday that he estimated there was a three-month window to decide the fate of the Games. “This is the new war and you have to face it,” he told the Associated Press news agency. “In and around that time, I’d say folks are going to have to ask, ‘Is this under sufficient control that we can be confident about going to Tokyo, or not?’ ”
Tokyo 2020 organisers have set up a task force to work with public health officials to ensure the Games can go ahead as planned and the World Health Organisation has advised the IOC there is no need to cancel or relocate the Games.
Governing bodies have been briefed that the virus is likely to burn out in the summer, and Toshiro Muto, chief executive of the Tokyo organising committee, claims postponement has not even been considered.
However, Pound, an IOC member since 1978, indicated yesterday that “you’re probably looking at a cancellation” if the virus is deemed uncontrollable by the end of May.
Even though much of the infrastructure from London 2012 has
been dismantled or repurposed, Bailey insisted last week that the city was able to take the torch from Tokyo if needed and urged the IOC to consider it as an alternative.
“London can host the #Olympics in 2020,” he said on Twitter. “Given the ongoing disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak, I urge the Olympic committee to seriously consider how London could stand ready to host the Olympics should the need arise,” he added in a statement.
A spokesman for Sadiq Khan, the current mayor, also reportedly said last week that London would “step up to the plate”. One IOC source told The Daily Telegraph that Bailey’s offer was “laughable”, particularly because there would be no athletes’ village and the virus had already spread to Europe.
According to AP, Pound said organisers could put off a decision until late May, hoping the virus is under control by then. “You could go to two months out if you had to,” he said. “A lot of things have to start happening. You’ve got to start ramping up your security, your food, the Olympic Village, hotels.”
Pound’s comments came as a host of international sporting events continued to be called off across the region. In the last few days alone, the World Table Tennis Championships in South Korea, Japan’s J League and Ospreys’ and Ulster’s Pro14 trips to play in Italy were postponed. Four deaths have been reported in Japan and Pound encouraged athletes to keep training. About 11,000 are expected for the Olympics, which begin on July 24, and another 4,400 for the Paralympics, which open on Aug 25.
“As far as we all know, you’re going to be in Tokyo,” Pound said. “All indications are at this stage that it will be business as usual. So keep focused on your sport and be sure that the IOC is not going to send you into a pandemic situation.”
Pound said he would oppose a dispersal of events over various venues because that would not “constitute an Olympic Games”. “You’d end up with a series of world championships,” he said, adding that it would be difficult to spread around all the sports in a 17-day period with only a few months’ notice. The modern Olympics, dating from 1896, have been cancelled only during wartime.