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Olympic chiefs meet to discuss Tokyo Games amid virus surge

14 Comments
By Behrouz MEHRI

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14 Comments
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first, the olympix..... then, a 'limited' olympix..... now, a 'frugal' olympix.... what's next? an 'imaginary' olympix? (⌒▽⌒)

4 ( +6 / -2 )

nightmare scenario of the first Olympics to be cancelled in peace time.

WHATTTTTT???????

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Cancel the games! It's just not that important in the scheme of things. It's like the Oscars or EMI awards. Just not that important at this time in our history.

This is really all about the MONEY! Greedy people and organisations, sucking up what they can from advertising dollars and broadcast rights.

Just have world championships in each sport in various locations around the world, where and when it is safe to do so... Oh, wait a minute- that already happens!

CANCEL the GAMES!

6 ( +9 / -3 )

I wonder if Abe still think Xi is Japan's 'friend'.

A gathering of nations to celebrate unity, when so many nations are barred from entering Japan due to the virus. Contradiction?

China's appalling effort at containing this virus when it first emerged is not exactly a friendly act to the world.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The only thing that should be discussed is when to announce the cancellation of the Olympics. And even that shouldn't be a long discussion. Just cancel the damn thing right now.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

"Frugal"? They have already spent 12 billion dollars.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

“Bringing the world together” in the midst of a pandemic. Its Kafkaesque.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Just to note; The Olympics in Senegal are now scheduled for 2026. As for the rescheduled & proposed 2021 games: the issue is coin. The $25 billion already spent. The $3 to $8 billion required to hold the games next year. IOC suggested a date of 2022, which Abe opposed, as he will no longer be in office as PM, after September 2021, the man dressed as Mario and shot out of a tube in Brazil a sign he has no pride - he is concerned about his legacy or better ego, tied to a successful games. Koike wants the games to coincide with her ascension to the PM. It is about money, ego and ambition. None of which illustrates a concern for the citizenry or the serious task of flattening and eradicating the SARSCoV-2.

The games themselves, the marquee events are corporate gladiators jacked up on chemicals; does that reflect the spirit of the games? What does that herald? The gross corruption involved during the bidding process, is that the spirit of the games? What utter gibberish detached from reality. The spirit of the games: The entire NK women's soccer team being banned because of PEDs (NK claimed the entire team was struck by lightning and as a consequence ingested deer antler which caused failed tests for PEDs, that is not a fabrication). The entirety is ludicrous.

No mention is made of athletes who train in obscurity and reflect the one time amateur status of the competitors. All the Nike & Adidas sponsored athletes have premier events sponsored every year by the manufacturers of athletic goods and the effect on those is minimal. It's nice to see a raft of millionaire tennis players perform, or doped-up sprinters, but hardly 'the spirit of the games'. It is unfortunate for National Teams, such as women's soccer who train basically for The Olympics and World Cup, but otherwise are scattered to and fro in various leagues. Unfortunate for those athletes reaching their prime or at the end of their careers, especially in team sports. The 2020 games were envisioned by the powers-that-be to revive the Japanese economy (or at least the industrial tourist economy) into 2030. Japan as Fantasy Island. A bizarre posit that is dependent on the whims of tourists from afar. Food, trinkets and lodging as the basis for a domestic economy. The Olympics being the high point.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

“Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have both warned that it would be hard to postpone the Games beyond 2021”

sorry, but they said it was “impossible”. Already backtracking, I see.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Cancel the Olympic Games!!1 It was just something to "hide" or distract from the poor management done about the radioactive disaster that stills goes on in Fukushima and all the Tohoku Area.

Please, you don't need this distraction anymore, the Covid is here.

Better use that money to support all the people directly affected by the Covid.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@ExJourno Well actually to your point about money, I have a counter argument to that. Billions of dollars have already been sunk into this, so if there’s any realistic chance that the games can be held, then by all means, let the games be held. Because at this point, Japan will bring in more money from the games then they would be paying to maintain it from this point onwords at least. But if it can’t be safely held, then yes cancel it. But still, Japan should literally get their moneys worth, if they can realistically do it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Its a No-brainer... The Olympics should be on-hold forever, until this, and other back-to-back pandemics get sorted out. .... otherwise, change the format of the Olympics into something that's not held in one fixed location.

The Olympics is out-dated anyway, overly commercialized contrary to the goals of the event, and should perhaps simply be an amalgamation of global events that occur at a regular period, regardless where they're held.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It is time to be brutally honest. The Short, medium & long term picture all point to one obvious conclusion..

The Games cannot proceed in Japan.

The virus is not contained in Japan. Add to that plane-loads of selfish, stupid people, who do not care about following The Rules will cause catastrophic chaos in Japan.

At the end of the day, any beneifit to Japan will be minamal if not anything at all.

The potential for extreme loss of life, loss of earnings, loss of credability, show that The Games are not a

Fiscally Prudent path to follow.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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