BSP-17 Tokyo Olympics ‘difficult’ if pandemic not contained: Abe

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BSP-17

OLY-2020-VIRUS-ABE-JAPAN

Tokyo Olympics ‘difficult’ if pandemic not contained: Abe

TOKYO, April 29, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said
on Wednesday it would be “difficult” to hold the postponed Tokyo Olympics if
the coronavirus pandemic is not contained.

The premier’s remarks came a day after Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori
said in an interview with a local sports daily the Olympics will have to be
cancelled if the coronavirus pandemic isn’t brought under control by next
year.

Abe told parliament: “We must hold the Olympics as a testament to
humanity’s victory over the coronavirus.” “If we’re not in such situation,
it’s difficult (to hold) the Games,” he said, insisting the importance of
developing vaccines and drugs.

He added: “We’ve been saying we will hold the Olympics and Paralympics in
which athletes and spectators can participate safely and in a complete form.
I think (the Olympics) cannot be held in a complete form if the pandemic is
not contained.”

The pandemic has already forced a year-long delay of the Games, which are
now scheduled to open on July 23, 2021.

Mori was asked by the Nikkan Sports daily whether the Games could be
delayed until 2022 if the pandemic remains a threat next year, to which he
said: “No.”

“In that case, it’s cancelled,” he said in the interview published on
Tuesday.

A Tokyo 2020 spokesman told reporters also on Tuesday that Mori’s remarks
were based on “the chairman’s own thoughts”.

Postponing the Games is an enormous logistical and financial challenge,
with the final price tag for the delay still unclear.

The pandemic has caused 217,000 deaths around the globe. In Japan, the
virus has infected around 14,000 and killed almost 400.

The country is under a month-long state of emergency and officials have
asked non-essential businesses to shut their doors.

BSS/AFP/MRU/2044hrs