TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2021) The organizing committee of the Tokyo Olympics will decide if the games can go ahead by March 25, when the torch relay is scheduled to start, Yoshiro Mori, the chairman of the committee, told the Japanese Nishinippon Shimbun newspaper on Friday.
On Thursday, The Times newspaper reported, citing a source in the Japanese ruling coalition, that the country's leadership had privately concluded that the Olympic Games in Tokyo must be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Japanese government already refuted such reports.
According to Mori, organizers will decide on the Olympics before the official launch of the torch relay and are not considering another postponement of the games. Mori added that he already warned the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that "worst-case scenarios" cannot be ruled out.
"It goes without saying that we are looking at a variety of worst-case scenarios. [The fate of the Olympics] will become clear depending on whether the Olympic torch relay is held or not," Mori said.
The organizers are also deciding on whether or not to allow spectators to attend the Olympics. On Thursday, IOC member Dick Pound told Kyodo that games may be held without fans.
"We will be taking the situation with the coronavirus into account when making the decision. ...Probably, this will be made in March," Mori said.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were scheduled to be held in summer of 2020, however, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the International Olympic Committee to postpone it for a year. A new date for the start of the Tokyo Olympics has been set for July 23, 2021.
