Japan rebuts Olympic 'cancellation' talk despite coronavirus fears

Feb 27, 2020 | News On Japan

Feb 27, 2020 (Nikkei) - Suggestions by a senior International Olympics Committee member that the Tokyo Games could be canceled if the coronavirus outbreak is not contained by May drew a swift reaction from Japanese officials, while sponsoring companies are anxiously awaiting the fate of the world's biggest sporting event.

Comments by committee member Dick Pound regarding a possible cancellation "are not an official announcement by the IOC," Seiko Hashimoto, Minister for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, told Japan's House of Representatives on Wednesday. The minister stressed that the IOC has told the Tokyo Organizing Committee that it is working to hold the Games in July as scheduled.

"I believe it is necessary to imagine the worst situation in order to achieve the best possible success," she added.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga echoed Hashimoto's remarks at a press conference, saying the world's biggest sporting event will be held as planned. "We would like to prepare steadily for the event, including offering information abroad regarding our measures against the spread of the coronavirus," Suga said.

The officials' comments were prompted after Pound, who has served on the IOC since 1978, told the Associated Press that "you're probably looking at a cancellation" if the games cannot go ahead as scheduled.

While it is still far too soon to say whether the Games will go ahead as scheduled, analysts say sponsors would not have many options for recouping their losses if the event is cancelled.

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