TOKYO Japan): International Olympics Committee head Thomas Bach said 2021 was the “last option” for holding the delayed Tokyo Games.
“Postponement cannot go on forever,” Bach told the BBC, and added he agreed with 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 Olympics were postponed to July 23, 2021 as the coronavirus spread across the globe.
“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,” said Bach.
“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 Olympics have never been cancelled outside of the world wars, but Japanese officials have been clear that they have no intention of postponing the Games again beyond next year.
Meanwhile, a satirical mock-up depicting the Tokyo Olympics logo as the new coronavirus has been pulled after organisers branded it “insensitive”.
The design combines the distinctive, spiky image of the coronavirus cell with the blue-and-white Tokyo 2020 logo, and appeared on the front page of an in-house magazine published by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics have been postponed until next year because of coronavirus.
