The IOC will begin talks regarding the potential postponement of the the Tokyo Olympics this summer. The International Olympic Council held an emergency meeting on Sunday where they said they will step up on scenario planning for the games.
RTE Sport report that they will hold further meetings and discussions which will involve the option of delaying the Olympics from it’s original start date of July 24th. They did however state a complete cancelling of the worldwide event will not solve any problems or help anyone. In a statement they said, “Therefore, cancellation is not on the agenda,”. They went on state that these talks will be over the next month and a decision will be taken then.
They said they will engage in scenario planning in the talks. The statement said, “These scenarios relate to modifying existing operational plans for the Games to go ahead on 24 July 2020, and also for changes to the start date of the Games”. Thomas Bach who is the President of the IOC addressed athletes also. He said, “I think I can feel with those among you who consider the situation to be unsatisfactory,”. Furthermore, he said that a statement on the postponement of the Olympics today could not determine a new date. He said, “A decision about a postponement today could not determine a new date for the Olympic Games because of the uncertain developments in both directions: an improvement… in a number of countries… or a deteriorating situation in other countries.”
Covid 19 is quickly spreading across Europe. Things are going from bad to worse especially in Italy, France and Germany, with England not far behind. People obviously need to be sticking to social distancing. Of course if things start to gradually get better which they will in time then the games will go ahead. But as of now there is no chance of the games going ahead in my opinion.
