COVID-19: Japan speaks on canceling Tokyo Olympics

Japan government has dismissed the reports of possible Tokyo Olympics cancellation.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga began 2021 promising that the delayed Tokyo Olympics would go ahead in July, even as Japan contends with a surge in coronavirus cases and the rising cost of an event that is becoming increasingly unpopular with the public.

“The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held this summer,” Suga said in a written statement for the New Year, describing the event as a symbol of world unity. “We will make steady preparations to realise a safe and secure tournament.”

Japan and the International Olympic Committee decided last March to postpone the games by a year as the coronavirus pandemic sent much of the world into lockdown.

The games, involving some 11,000 athletes from around the world, are now due to take place across two weeks from July 23, with the Paralympics to follow afterwards. The event’s budget has increased by about $2.4bn as a result of the delay, organisers said in December, bringing the total to more than $15bn.

IOC president Thomas Bach, who visited Japan in November, reiterated the IOC’s commitment to the games in a video to mark the start of the New Year, noting that Tokyo was the “best prepared” Olympic city ever.

“These Olympic Games will be the light at the end of the tunnel,” Bach said.

In Japan, however, public opinion also appears to be turning against the event.

But the government maintained that the games will go on as planned.