Reuters is reporting that The Times is reporting that the Japanese government will cancel the Tokyo Olympics.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2020-cancellatio…
In my view, that is a responsible decision. Plenty of more important things in the world these days (but I acknowledge that the athletes and officials and others will be disappointed).
OP has it all wrong.
A ll reports suggest Olympics are going ahead.
I would not be surprised if it was cancelled. It would be very sad even I am just a lounge chair spectator.
best way to participate
I would be shattered, as would the hopes of so many athletes who have to train so hard for further changes.
But I can' see it happening in a safe and responsible manner, not worth the potential suffering of the general public.
The Australian Open is a bit of a test case but it is nothing on the scale of the Olympics.
Dammed if they do and dammed if they don't, but if Japan can't get a handle on COVID, then it shouldn't go ahead.
I remember reading calls to have olympic athletes vaccinated, but I don't agree with that.
"…a recent surge in cases has spurred it to close its borders to non-resident foreigners and declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and major cities."
"About 80% of people in Japan do not want the Games to be held this summer…"
Very very sad if true.
All the athletes that dedicated their lives to perfecting their craft.
Will Tokyo simply miss out or be given the 2024 Olympics (which I assume has already been assigned to another city), if so what of all the infrastructure, planning and work gone into Games readiness? All wasted.
China should pay for all this.
Didn't bother to read the article?
"The government’s focus is now on securing the Games for Tokyo in the next available year, 2032, the newspaper said"
I'm the same; plenty of other things to focus on.
Giant waste of money and has widespread corruption.
Tell us what you really think… dont hold back :D :D :D
I think that is a reasonably widely held view
Well, you're half right. There certainly is plenty of corruption at the top ('political') end, and of course drug cheating at the sporting end.
As for a "giant waste of money", I couldn't disagree more, but I suppose that depends on your feelings toward sport…
Sydney Olympics was a loss that hasn't turned a profit for years?
The same amount could go towards new housing, space ships, innovation, or other crap that would benefit Australia. Nope..
If the Australian Open is an indication, cancelling the Olympics is a good decision. Negative publicity for Australia while it costs Tennis Australia $40 million in quarantine costs?
Time to cancel my Olympic tickets ey
One of the worst outcomes if the Tokyo Olympics is cancelled? All the re-runs on Ch7 to fill in what would have been Olympic broadcasting hours.
just rerun the Sydeny (sic) games perhaps… "best games ever"
Rerun the dream. Not the double DVD available for purchase and appearing in YouTube. The whole thing. The interviews were classic.
The upside being not having to listen to Bruce.
…and the endless cross promotion of other Channel 7 programs, particularly AFL which gets mentioned at the drop of a hat…
When there's billions of dollars on the line, many factoring interests will try and push this through
Yes, I found it surprising, but the government will make the decision (no doubt after lobbying by business).
I (obviously) don't know, but I sort of get the feeling that the OIC doesn't want to push too hard, as they would have to manage the risks.
I think we may officially know next Wednesday when the IOC have a press conference
https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-executive-board-meeting-inf…
It could have been done if they were more competent - they are also an island nation.
Many of those poor athletes would have been willing to do quarantines to get their Olympic dream.
When it comes to financial motivations remember insurance. They might have smaller losses for a cancellation than for running it with a fraction of the ticket income.
Whatever happens the decision will be based on money.
Are you suggesting that the Japanese government is incompetent, or the OIC?
This article suggests it is the government that may cancel the games.
The government
But the IOC is also incompetent, it's just not quite as applicable to this as the Gov's is
Well, if a train runs 30 seconds late in Japan, the minister is in tears on TV at the shame.
I could only imagine the uproar if the Olympics is canned…
As far as I can see the Japanese government has sidestepped really dealing with COVID and the nation is now paying the price. As for the IOC, "incompetent" doesn't even begin to cover its sins.
Given the very unusual circumstances I wonder if they could push it back another year and then push back all the subsequent years so they are still 4 years apart. It’s not like any host country is ever fully ready until the very last minute.
Probably actually the best idea.
Lol good point!
The Japanese government are living in a different reality thinking they can ignore the issues and have very little testing, just so they carry on with a corrupted games
Ambitious IOC: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-22/tokyo-olympics-has-no…