Amid the cloud of doubt surrounding the viability of hosting the Olympic Games during a raging pandemic, Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga promised to US President Joe Biden that the Asian nation would do everything to hold a “safe and secure” sporting spectacle this year.
“Japan is listening to and learning from WHO (World Health Organization) and experts” and the country is doing its “utmost” to prepare for the Tokyo Games, Suga said at a joint press conference with Biden at the White House.
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“They are doing everything possible to contain infection and to realize safe and secure games from scientific and objective perspectives,” Suga added.
Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics was due to held in 2020, however, it has now been scheduled for July this year.
Asked if the US President supported the Prime Minister’s stand, Suga said, “I expressed my determination to realize the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as a symbol of global unity this summer, and President Biden once again expressed his support.”
Suga’s pledge of safety comes as the coronavirus crisis has complicated preparations.
Meanwhile, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party Toshihiro Nikai on Thursday warned the Tokyo Olympics could be cancelled if they are “no longer possible”.
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“We need to cancel without hesitation if it’s no longer possible,” he was quoted as saying, according to AFP inputs.
“If infections spread because of the Olympics, I don’t know what the Olympics is for,” added Nikai.
Earlier on Friday, organisers said that they had to scrap another leg of Japan’s Olympic torch relay — the third leg to be affected by a surge in infections — and that a BMX Freestyle test event scheduled for April 24 and 25 would now be postponed.
This was Biden’s first meet with an international leader after taking over the oval office in January 2021.
