IOC Vice President Coates promises safe games
IOC Vice President John Coates has ruled out a last-minute Olympic cancellation 100 days before the planned opening ceremony in Tokyo. The summer games, postponed by a year, “will take place as planned,” said the head of the coordination commission of the International Olympic Committee for the major event in Japan. Despite the threatening corona situation, the Australian promised: “It will be the safest games possible.”
The games in Japan's capital had been postponed to this summer last year due to the pandemic and are scheduled to open on July 23. According to Coates, the extensive measures against the coronavirus will “ensure that all participants and the Japanese population are safe”.
The 70-year-old said in a video distributed by the IOC: “The athletes, the Olympic movement, the organizers and the Japanese people will be able to show that it is a human victory over the pandemic.”
According to surveys, more than 70 percent of the Japanese are currently in favor of canceling or rescheduling the summer games. Due to the fear of the virus spreading, foreign fans and athlete families as well as guests of sponsors and associations are denied entry to Japan.
However, IOC Olympic Director Christophe Dubi was confident that “the emotions will be even stronger” in the world of sports. For the first time, the global athlete community will meet again at the Olympics, explained Dubi. He expects the Olympians to be “at the height of their capabilities despite the circumstances”.
