On the 24th, the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee issued a joint statement saying that in view of the current epidemic situation, the 32nd Tokyo Olympic Games need to be rescheduled after 2020, but not later than the date of the summer of 2021.
Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, March 24 (Reporter Prince Jiang Jiye Jiang Qiumei) International Olympic Committee President Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a conference call on the 24th, after the meeting, the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee issued a joint statement saying that in view of the current epidemic situation, the 32nd Tokyo Olympic Games need to be rescheduled after 2020, but not later than the date of the summer of 2021. The Olympic fire will remain in Japan, and the names of Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games will remain unchanged.
On the same day, Bach and Abe discussed the changing situation of the Tokyo Olympic Games caused by the new coronavirus outbreak. The subsequent joint statement said that under the current circumstances, the president of the International Olympic Committee and the Prime Minister of Japan believed that the 32nd Tokyo Olympic Games needed to be rescheduled after 2020, but not later than the date of the summer of 2021, to protect the health of athletes, Olympic participants and the international community.
Both sides agreed that the Olympic fire would stay in Japan. The meeting also agreed that the names of Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games would remain unchanged.
The two leaders expressed their concern about the outbreak of the new coronavirus epidemic worldwide and its significant impact on human life and global athletes preparing for the Olympic Games.
The meeting was very friendly and constructive. The two leaders praised the work of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee and noted the great progress made by Japan in fighting the new coronavirus epidemic.
The unprecedented and unpredictable spread of the epidemic has worsened the situation in other parts of the world. Yesterday (23rd), the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tan desse, said that the pandemic of new coronavirus pneumonia was “accelerating”. At present, there are more than 375000 confirmed cases in the world, almost every country has case records, and its number is increasing rapidly in hours.
Tokyo Olympic organizing committee chairman Mori Yoshiro, Japanese Olympic Minister Yamamoto, Tokyo governor Koichi Kochi, IOC Coordination Committee chairman Coates, IOC director general de Capper, dolby, executive director of the Olympic Games department of the International Olympic Committee, attended the meeting.
Yoshiro Mori announced that since the Olympic Games had been postponed, the Olympic torch relay originally scheduled to start on March 26 would also be canceled, and the new Olympic torch relay plan would be announced separately.
The Tokyo Paralympic Games, which was scheduled to open on August 25, was also postponed for one year, after next year’s Olympic Games.
In the 124-year history of the modern Olympic Games, there had never been a precedent that the Olympic Games had been postponed before, although the Olympic Games in 1916,1940and 1944were canceled due to the World War.
Since the outbreak of the covid-19 outbreak, the sound of delaying the Tokyo Olympic Games has gradually increased. The Japanese government and the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee have always claimed that the Olympic Games will be held as scheduled on July 24, due to the recent deterioration of the epidemic in Europe and the United States, the Canadian Olympic Committee took the lead in expressing resistance. Abe finally loosened his mouth on the 23rd and said that he could consider the plan to postpone the Olympic Games.