TOKYO (AP) – Tick-Tock-Tick.
The countdown clock for the postponed Olympic Games in Tokyo reached 200 days to go on Monday.
Tick-Tock-Tick.
Also on Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he would consider declaring a state of emergency as the number of new coronavirus cases in Tokyo and neighboring prefectures soared to record numbers. Japan has never had a lockdown on COVID-19, in an effort to combine the economy and health risks.
Tick-Tock-Tick.
The deadline is approaching for the Tokyo Olympic organizers, the International Olympic Committee and several Japanese government agencies trying to make the Games take place in the midst of a pandemic.
Officials have pledged to announce concrete plans early in the new year to bring 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes to Japan; about the safety of Athletes Village and hundreds of thousands of fans, media, judges, officials, broadcasters and VIPs.
The new year has arrived.
Suga again pledged to hold the Olympics, saying it would be “proof that people have overcome the coronavirus.” And he said approval of the vaccine would be accelerated by one month so that vaccinations can start in February instead of March.
Japan has attributed more than 3,400 deaths to COVID-19, modest by global standards for a country of 125 million, but worrying as new cases are increasing rapidly. A poll last month by the national broadcaster NHK shows that 63% want to postpone or cancel the Olympic Games.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and governors of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures asked the national government to declare a state of emergency on Saturday after the capital saw a daily record of 1,337 new cases on New Year’s Eve. That meant a jump of nearly 400 in just a few days.
Yoshiro Mori, the chairman of the organizing committee and former prime minister, again ruled out a cancellation of the games in an interview with the Nikkan Sports newspaper a few days ago. He was asked when a decision would be made about having local fans or fans from abroad.
“Sometime from March to May,” he replied. “The final deadline for a decision would be May, but it could come earlier.”
Any reduction in the number of fans will hit the organizing committee’s budget. Tokyo has budgeted $ 800 million for ticket sales, and any deficit will have to be filled by government agencies, which pay most of the Olympic bills.
The official budget for the Tokyo Olympics was increased to $ 15.4 billion last month, up from $ 2.8 billion due to the delay. However, several government audits in recent years show that the actual number is about $ 25 billion.
All but $ 6.7 billion is public money.
Mori said the opening ceremony, scheduled for July 23, could be tricky with thousands of athletes and officials gathering to parade through the stadium. He also suggested that the ceremony could not be shortened, as television channels had paid for the lucrative time. He said some officials would be removed from the parade.
Television controls much of the Olympic schedule, and the sale of broadcast rights accounts for 73% of the IOC’s revenues. Another 18% is from major sponsors such as Coca-Cola and Toyota.
The torch relay, which begins March 25, will also see a buzz with 10,000 runners expected in nearly four months. Coca-Cola and Toyota are the main sponsors.
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