There’s a real danger of cancellation due to COVID. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57097853 However, the decision can only come from the IOC if Japan wants to minimise financial losses. It will be interesting to see how they make their decision.
It's not a big suprise if Tokyo OG will be cancelled at the end due to concerning situation in Japan two months prior the mega scale sport event. This pandemic has severe risk, similar with WWI & WWII impact that had forced Summer OG cancellation three times previously (1916, 1940, 1944).
This is such a bad situation. So the IOC is in a contract with Japan where Japan cannot cancel the games without paying for penalty, yet: So will IOC just look at the money and keep it running despite the obvious risks?
wouldn't surprise me if they did. at the very least the ioc should sponsor the vax'ing of qualifying athletes starting immediately to protect their investment. they've got the $$$. uhhh... does that make too much sense?
They supposedly have a deal in place with Pfizer to be able to vaccinate all Olympians. But in the end, it's down to the National Olympic Committees of each country to coordinate distribution with their respective governments. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1107458/ioc-pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-olympics
It looks like it! Will the IOC risk being responsible for further outbreaks of covid across the world in what could possibly be the most massive super spreader event in mankind?
Opposition to the hosting of the Games is mounting at an unprecedented pace in Japan, with influential media personalities joining in the criticism. Prime Minister Suga is currently under siege from various quarters, especially regarding the slow roll-out of vaccinations, and the LDP's support has started to seriously wane. The opposition and mass media smell blood, and as far as the current Government is concerned, what ever way the Olympic plot turns, this is probably a no-win situation. Suga, already a lame-duck, will be dethroned in the autumn elections, probably ousted by his party peers prior to the vote. Make no mistake about it, any calculations vis-a-vis the holding of the Games will be factoring in these lower house elections. For the LDP, what is the best way of retaining power with a large majority of seats? Is it to claim that the Games must be held due to contractual liabilities with the IOC? Probably not, as this begs the question of national sovereignty. But then again, cancelling the event will also result in considerable damage to Japan's reputation. As I mentioned above, this is a no-win situation for the Government; the question for the LDP being, with what stance can the political loss best be minimised? Here, as no consensus is forthcoming, the plan to stage the Games continues.
switzerland is an expensive country to live in, for reference, mickeyDs workers were making 35 CHF/hr 30 yrs ago. their fancy lakeside HQ in lausanne barely 2 yrs old isn't going to upkeep by itself. https://www.archdaily.com/919974/olympic-house-3xn
In Atlanta, USA, the baseball team already allow 100% full attendance at their stadium starting 2 weeks ago. I think the stadium was 2/3 full and there is nothing bad reported. This is good news but for some reason, nobody bothers to report it. Don't forget that Miss Universe was held too in Florida(contestant from all over the world came) and the Eurovision was held with some audiences
evidently players like v.axelsen know nothing about it... https://360badminton.com/news/viktor-axelsen-fights-for-vaccines-for-danish-olympic-athletes/ ... (both articles published on the same date.) in this day and age you'd think communicating info like that to all those concerned would be easy. has the ioc/bwf/badminton denmark heard about that thing called the internet?
Because the Government seriously miscalculated. Rather than considering COVID-19 to comprise a danger to national security and negotiating the purchase of vaccines, the Government somehow believed that the country could weather the storm through the good sense (as well as etiquette and general cleanliness) of its people. To put it nicely, Japan woke up to the reality that it needed to depend on other countries to save its people's lives a little late. And now it is scrambling to establish a system that will ensure an equitable distribution of the vaccines.
Despite very much looking forward to watching the Olympics as a sports fan, in my view, the only sensible thing to do is the postpone it once again. Given the amount of suffering that the world has seen and is still experiencing due to this pandemic, it probably wouldn't be the most enjoyable Olympics for the fans or the participants. Clearly, with the huge influx of international travellers and difficultly in maintaining social distancing at the games, it's going to be a massive challenge to keep everyone safe.
I am afraid covid-19 is here to stay. The games cannot be postponed every year for the next 2 years. It's either they push through this summer or they are canceled. Also, no international tourists are allowed in Japan. Even the athletes' close circle will be limited. I am not sure the Olympics can be tagged as less safe than global tourism. I think it's about preventive measures, i.e. to vaccine all the athletes and quarantine them properly before the games. As for the spectators, why not creating a pass with a covid negative test or a vaccine attestation mandatory to access the event. Keeping everyone safe has become a utopia since 2020. The number of cases/deaths per day has only been on the rise since the first cases and despite the measures and the vaccines, although the number of cases per day is going down since a few months - unlike the number of deaths rising again - expect it to be back on the rise at some point.
Call me an optimist but I think in a year's time the situation will look quite different as herd immunity through vaccination/natural antibodies will be on our side and our scientists will have learned much more. Yes covid is here to stay, but new aggressive variants are only possible if the strain from which it came from is still surviving at large. So by reducing that possibility you effectively reduce the chance for more variants or at least the rate of new variants forming. Although I agree we are always going to have covid around, I am hopeful it will be reduced to isolated pockets that are much more manageable. I hadn't realized that Japan is not permitting international spectators - thanks for highlighting that. But even so, there will be a lot of international travelers supporting and participating in the games and also a lot of traveling within Japan. And when you have such a densely populated area such as Tokyo, the risk is increased. I still think postponing another year is the best option, and if the situation doesn't improve by then, I guess canceling it would be the obvious decision.
I can only hope you are right and the situation will improve in a year or so. I still believe the Olympics are not the super spreader event people should be worried about. I can only assume Japanese citizens will still behave carefully and take all necessary measures to limit the spread of the virus. I am much more worried about the Euro where people are careless and defiant of the rules. Besides, this event will be hosted through 12 different European countries with teams and fans allowed to travel back and forth from one country to another and stadiums will accommodate from 25% to 100% spectators. Talk about mega-spreader. Only for the population to be under lockdown again and cease all activities again in autumn... Anyway, slightly out of topic here and a less optimistic view than yours.
Japanese have a history of distrusting vaccines, with only 1 in 3 believing in vaccines. Additionally they did rather well in controlling covid infections early on, so they did not place too much importance on vaccinations similar to New Zealand and Australia. As of yesterday, barely just 5% of the Japanese population has had at least 1 dose of covid vaccination. This compared to 50-60% in North America! Osaka hospital system is crumbling under their 4th wave. And only half of their hospital workers have been vaccinated. Outlook is definitely not good. Sent from my SM-G988W using Tapatalk
Tokyo Olympics won't be postponed, IOC only has insurance for cancellation but not postponement. World Cup and Winter Olympic are happening next year, not to mention other sporting events. It takes more courage to cancel the Olympics this year than holding it. All the money that pouring into this Olympics and the efforts of all athletes preparing for once in a lifetime experience are putting unspeakable pressure for anyone who is trying to thinking of cancellation. My bet is the game will go on.