TOKYO – The organizers of this year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo have pushed hard on recent speculation that the Games should be canceled due to the pandemic. There is one more person they want on the team to push the message: President Biden.
“Mr. Biden faces a difficult situation with the coronavirus,” said Haruyuki Takahashi, member of the board of directors of Japan’s Olympic Organizing Committee. to get.”
The US brings the largest contingent of athletes and the richest pot of television money to the Games. It is also Japan’s ally and military protector, so an expression of determination to keep going would be influential with a skeptical Japanese public and reassure other countries that are unsure of sending athletes to Tokyo.
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Uncertainty about the Games is growing as virus cases have recovered in many countries and vaccination programs are stuttering. A British newspaper reported last week that Japan has given up organizing the Olympic Games this year. The government called the report “categorically untrue.”
International Olympic Committee Chairman Thomas Bach made phone calls to national Olympic committees around the world on Friday to reassure them about the Games and to discuss coronavirus vaccinations for athletes. He has said there is no alternative plan for the Tokyo Olympics.
Mr. Takahashi said the main task was to keep the US on board at the Games, including Olympic broadcaster NBC.
“It’s up to the US, I hate to say it, but Thomas Bach and the IOC are not the ones who can make the decision about the Games. They don’t have that level of leadership, ”he said.
Mr. Biden has not spoken publicly about the Olympics since his presidency because he prioritizes fighting the pandemic. When asked on Friday about Mr. Biden’s views on the Olympics, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she was not familiar with it.
Echoing the UK newspaper report, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement on Friday that it focused “on the health and preparedness of Team USA athletes ahead of the Games this summer.”
In response to Mr. Takahashi’s suggestion that a strong statement from Mr. Biden was needed, an IOC spokesperson said: “It is regrettable that Mr. Takahashi does not know the facts. First, it is USOPC that decides the US Olympic and Paralympic team. Second, USOPC has never left any doubts about their participation. Therefore, his comments are outdated. “
The spokesman declined to comment on Mr. Takahashi’s suggestion that Mr. Bach and the IOC were unable to make a decision about the Games.
Despite polls showing that about 80% of the Japanese public opposes holding the Games this year, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has also reiterated an optimistic view. “I am determined to organize the Games safely in July, in close cooperation with organizations at home and abroad,” he said in parliament on Friday.
However, in recent days there has been more open discussion in Japan about alternatives to hosting the Games this summer. Senior figures in a minority party loosely tied to the government have suggested that the Olympic schedule could be pushed back, with Tokyo replacing Paris as host in 2024 or taking the next open slot in 2032. consider scrapping the event altogether.
Kaori Yamaguchi, a member of Japan’s Olympic Committee, said the IOC should be more open this year about possible alternatives to the Games. She said it was worth discussing the possibility of postponing the event to an unspecified point in the future. If Japan continues with the Olympics and the Games run into problems such as clusters of infection, that would tarnish their legacy and make countries less willing to host the event, she said.
“It’s scary not having a Plan B,” she said.
—Rachel Bachman and Chieko Tsuneoka contributed to this article.
Write to Alastair Gale at [email protected]
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