The coronavirus pandemic completely changed the scenario. Following the latest reports from the World Health Organization, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a video conference with Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, in which they agreed the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to 2021.
"President Bach said he agreed 100 percent and we agreed to hold the Olympics for the summer of 2021." the Japanese president announced to the press. Also present at the meeting were Mori Yoshiro, president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee; the Olympic minister, Hashimoto Seiko; the governor of Tokyo, Koike Yuriko; the President of the IOC Coordination Commission, John Coates; IOC Director General Christophe De Kepper; and the Executive Director of the IOC Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi.
Given this scenario, the first speculation is that a probable date for the realization of the maximum appointment of the sport would be during the Japanese summer, as planned for this 2020 (from July 24 to August 9, 2020). However, Bach left out a much larger scenario.
“This does not just boil down to the summer months. All options are on the table, both before and during the summer of 2021"Warned the Olympic leader during a press conference.
Bach confirmed the creation from this Tuesday of a working commission specially destined to communicate with the 33 federations to find the best possible scenario within a highly charged international agenda. "The first stage is to see with them what the options are. We must also take into account the sports calendar around the Olympic Games ”he added.
Following the pandemic caused by COVID-19, tournaments such as the European Championship or the Copa América, which were scheduled for this year, were postponed to 2021 (June 11 to July 11). In addition, the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, United States, are scheduled for next year from August 6 to 15 and the swimming championship in Fukuoka, Japan, from July 6 to August 1.
"There are thousands of questions to answer. It is an unprecedented challenge. But I am sure that we can go ahead to make some wonderful Games. This working group will determine new dates as soon as possible. The agreement is that the Games take place no later than the summer of 2021. From here our working group must draw the complete picture. There is no option ruled out, nor is it to celebrate them in spring. We are not restricted to just the summer months, "said Bach.
On Monday, World Athletics, the international athletics federation, said last Monday that it began talks with organizers in the United States to try to postpone the competition.
Another topic of discussion is placed on the Olympic Village, since a good part of the apartments were sold to Japanese citizens. “It is a question that now has no answer. The Olympic Village is where the Games throb but as I have said, everyone will have to make sacrifices ”, the IOC President limited himself to answering.
"The question was whether Japan could offer safe conditions to welcome the athletes of the world. At the time, we had increasing confidence in developments in Japan, looking at all the steps being taken, looking at the numbers, and we were confident that in four and a half months, these safe conditions could be offered. But, then, we had this great wave coming from the rest of the world and these very, very troubling developments, particularly in the last few days. Obviously, Africa is at the beginning of the spread of the virus, and the World Health Organization said a couple of hours ago that Africa has to prepare for the worst. We see that the numbers are increasing in many other parts of the world, "explained the leader when arguing the reasons that led them to postpone the Olympic Games.