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Tag Tokyo 2020 OlympicsCoronavirus

  • Mar, Mon, 2020
Sport

Japan says Tokyo Olympics may be postponed due to coronavirus

Postponment

Tokyo, March 23, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said for the first time on Monday that the Tokyo Olympic Games may be postponed if the event cannot be held in its “complete form” due to the coronavirus pandemic.

NAN reports that the flame was transported by a special aircraft “Tokyo 2020 Go” from Athens, Greece, and arrived at Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) Matsushima Air Base in Miyagi Prefecture on March 20.

The flame was originally lit in front of the ruins of the Temple of Hera in Ancient Olympia on 12 March, and after its week-long stay in Greece was handed over to Tokyo at Tokyo at a ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Sunday after an emergency meeting that it is stepping up its “scenario planning” for the 2020 Games due to start on July 24, including a possible postponement.

Abe said while cancelling the Games was not an option, a delay was now on the cards if the event could not be held in its complete form.

“If that becomes difficult, we may have no option but to consider postponing the Games,” he told parliament.

He said he had conveyed his views to Tokyo Games chief Yoshiro Mori on Sunday evening, who then discussed the issue with IOC President Thomas Bach.

Under mounting pressure from athletes, federations and national committees to postpone the Games, the IOC did a partial U-turn on Sunday after long insisting, with Tokyo organisers, that the Games would go ahead as planned.

Tokyo 2020 organisers have started drafting alternative dates for the Olympics, sources have told Reuters.

At the current speed, the number of patients with coronavirus in Tokyo is expected grow by 530 through April 8, according to experts advising the city.

As of March 22, the number of confirmed cases in Tokyo was 130, with four dead, the Tokyo government said.

Prime Minister Abe said all travellers from the U.S., including Japanese citizens, would be asked to go into quarantine for 14 days after their arrival in Japan.

In the U. S. nearly one in three residents has been ordered to stay at home to slow the spread of the flu-like virus as cases nationwide topped 32,000, with more than 415 dead, according to a Reuters tally.

Japan’s foreign ministry has advised citizens to avoid non-essential and non-urgent travel to the U. S. (Reuters/NAN)

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edited by Sadiya Hamza

 

  • Mar, Mon, 2020
Sport

No room for spectators at Tokyo 2020 Games torch-lighting ceremony, organisers say

Spectators
Athens, March 9, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia will be the first in more 35 years to be held without spectators.

This came to be after organisers on Monday introduced tighter measures to protect against the coronavirus.

Greece’s Olympic Committee said spectators would be excluded from both the dress rehearsal at the ancient site on Wednesday and the widely-broadcast ceremony on Thursday.

This is the first time since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics that the ceremony will be held without any spectators lounging on the grassy slopes of the ancient stadium in the tiny Peloponesian hamlet.

The ceremony —- held both for summer and winter Games —- usually attracts several thousand spectators, including Greeks and foreign visitors.

“The lighting ceremony of the Olympic flame will be done without the presence of spectators and only 100 invited and accredited guests,” the Greek Olympic Committee said in a statement.

“The dress rehearsal on Wednesday will be closed to spectators and media.”

The Olympic torch will be lit in Olympia at a scaled-down ceremony on Thursday before a seven-day relay that culminates with a hand-over ceremony in Greece on March 19.

The number of people inside the ancient stadium will also be reduced with only a few dozen representatives of the Tokyo Games from a group of about 150 allowed access to the ceremony.

Organisers will also shut the press centre following the ceremony to avoid the gathering of many people in an indoor area and will stage Wednesday’s dress rehearsal without the presence of media.

Tokyo had already stopped 340 children from attending.

Greece on Sunday announced a two-week ban on sports events with spectators and on school field trips, as its number of coronavirus cases rose by seven to 73.

The prefecture of Ilia, of which Olympia is part, is among areas of the country hardest hit by the coronavirus.

The Mayor of Olympia has written to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, proposing the postponement of the ceremony until May.

“The danger of staging the torch-lighting with only a handful of spectators, limited number of officials and delegations, and under a cloud of fear and concern will damage the greatness and prestige of this event,” Olympia mayor Giorgos Georgiopoulos said in his letter.

“With a sense of responsibility, the municipal authority, all parties of the city council of Ancient Olympia, in order to secure the global radiance of the event asks the IOC which has the exclusive responsibility of organising it to consider the possibility of moving the torch-lighting ceremony to May of this year.”(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)