Fan’s Cheers Die Down as Tokyo Olympics 2021 Faces Cancelation Risk

The effects of the ongoing pandemic are more severe than we could have imagined. The Tokyo Olympics has already been delayed from 2020 to 2021, but now the committee is faced with an even bigger question. Will the Olympics even be held?

Olympics is not just a sports competition or a venue to achieve a medal. It is a symbol of solidarity. Not only can athletes compete on an international level, but it is also a considerable step towards uprooting cultural barriers.

Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, has stated that if the Olympics cannot be held this summer, it will have to be canceled. The event has already been postponed by a year and any more delay is just not possible.

Bach clearly stated the reasons behind such a decision: “You cannot forever employ 3,000 to 5,000 people in an organizing committee,” “You cannot have the athletes being in uncertainty.”

Reorganizing an event as huge in scale as the Olympics is already a hefty task by itself. Rescheduling every major sporting event worldwide for an unknown period of time is impossible.

If the Olympics are delayed any further, then “there is no plan B.” The Tokyo Olympics has been scheduled to run from 23rd July to 8th August 2021.

A closed-door Olympics is not what the committee wants. Olympics is not just about the athletes but also about fans. It is a place where dreams are achieved.

A senior member of the ruling coalition in Japan has stated that there has already been a private agreement, it will be too difficult to reorganize the postponed game. Japan is now aiming to secure its place by aiming directly for the 2032 Olympics.

Manabu Sakai, the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, has denied the claim of cancelation for now. However, no one has the heart to deny the situation’s reality.

If the Olympics does occur, it would be a celebration of solidarity and the cheer-cry of overcoming COVID-19.

The Olympics were first held in 1896, and the only time when it was canceled was during World War I in 1944. If the event gets canceled in 2021, it will be the second time it has ever been called off.

Even if the Olympics take place, the procedures will be revised only to incorporate the ‘essentials.’

Source: The Times