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Support for Olympics hits new low in Japan: poll

50 Comments
By Behrouz MEHRI

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If Japan had started to do mass vaccinations already like many other countries then I think the Olympics could have gone ahead but as they might only start limited vaccination at the end of February then I think its too late for them to be held. Government only have themselves to blame for this outcome.

13 ( +21 / -8 )

the Olympics ain't going to happen this year... a good chance to reflect if the whole circus is even needed in it's current bloated form.

30 ( +31 / -1 )

I admit experiencing schadenfreude over this. My support for the Tokyo Olympics was rock-bottom a decade ago, the day I heard that Tokyo was making its bid, and has been ever since.

30 ( +33 / -3 )

Just from an athlete's/participant's perspective I heard an interview with the captain of the Matildas, the Australian women's soccer team, over the weekend and she said the team hasn't played or met together in nearly twelve months, have no "friendly" matches scheduled for Olympic preparation and have more than several players living and playing abroad. Some are in England where the strict lockdown may continue until March. In summary she said the Tokyo Olympics is more or less "unthinkable".

29 ( +29 / -0 )

tamanegiToday  07:15 am JST

Just from an athlete's/participant's perspective I heard an interview with the captain of the Matildas, the Australian women's soccer team, over the weekend and she said the team hasn't played or met together in nearly twelve months, have no "friendly" matches scheduled for Olympic preparation and have more than several players living and playing abroad. Some are in England where the strict lockdown may continue until March. In summary she said the Tokyo Olympics is more or less "unthinkable".

Olympic Games used to be held with the Winter and Summer Games held in the same year. Then after the 1992 Summer Games in France the Committee decided to split Olympiads by 2 years and 1994 had the next Winter Games and 1996 Summer.

If the Tokyo Games get set back to 2022 the Olympic Games will be having the Winter and Summer Games back in the same year. That might be better in the long run, out of necessity.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

I found an article in the Sydney Morning Herald to support what I stated earlier about the Australian women's soccer team.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/unthinkable-to-imagine-matildas-playing-in-tokyo-says-aussie-star-catley-20210109-p56suu.html

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Didn't deserve the Olympics in the first place. Obvious bribery involved.

Karma

Karma it must be. From the very start Tokyo 2020 has been jinxed, from rising costs, problems with stadiums (Japan still owes money to the company who designed the initial stadium). Even Japans monarchy have used the games as an excuse to delay (stop) a marriage. Then problems with flags. And finally Convid-19.

A cancelled Olympics will however give Japan other things to focus on, such as an urgent need for legal reform.

13 ( +15 / -2 )

Just over 80 percent of those asked by Kyodo news agency said the huge global event should be cancelled

while a survey released in December by national broadcaster NHK found that only 27 percent of respondents supported holding the Games in 2021.

Kyodo said 80%, NHK said 73% so public support already low. Organizer still doesn't get it?

while some 45 percent said the event should be postponed a second time.

Postponement have it|s own cost, some of them will use tax money, do these 45% percent responded know this?

9 ( +11 / -2 )

There’s no way the Olympics will go ahead with new variants of coronavirus spreading around the world. The IOC and the JOC and the Japanese government are waiting for the right moment to announce a cancellation or postponement of the 2021 games.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

I wish they would stop with the late night random calls for polling.

-7 ( +3 / -10 )

Just throw in the towel and call it quits. Do not postpone again, just quit NOW.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Support for the Olympics is dropping lockstep with support for Suga. Probably if he had taken Covid seriously the two wouldn’t be so correlated. Anyway...

Remember way back in 2019 when the thing that wound everyone up so much was the stupidity of holding marathons and other events in Tokyo’s sweltering July heat? We were so innocent, I long for those days when that was all we had to worry about. Now they are planning on holding them in the same heat, and also with a deadly pandemic which is very unlikely to be under control by then flying around.

They keep harping on about the Games lifting everyone’s spirits as a sign of our defeat of the pandemic, but the reality is they are just a depressing reminder of how little the ruling elite here are doing to make that defeat happen.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Just cancel the damn olympics. But Suga will wait until the very last minute to act. Even Koike will have to concede very soon that it is going to be a complete disaster if it goes ahead.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

If Japan had started to do mass vaccinations already like many other countries 

MAJOR misconception, out of all the countries in the world, there are still VERY few that are vaccinating for the virus.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

If Japan had started to do mass vaccinations already like many other countries then I think the Olympics could have gone ahead

No evidence that, mass vaccination will work (apart from on healthy under 55yr olds on short term testing), and as some vaccination CEO’s admit that the current vaccines may not work after 6 months. Some govt are also implicating giving one dose and delaying the administration of the second against strong advice from drug company researchers. People from 3rd world countries probably have no access to inoculation and Virus tests accuracy vary, usually around 60%.

you can’t sue drug companies for serious side effects or death.

then there is the socio-human perspective...around 45% of people will not take a vaccine right now.

don't want to go on about Mutations...currently 3 New in 2 months with no clinical trials...

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

Most, if not all, G20 countries have started. There is no excuse for the world's 3rd largest economy not to.

Started, and "mass" are two different things, not to mention a DOZEN countries is not a lot!

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/24/vaccine-rollout-which-countries-have-started

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

No evidence that, mass vaccination will work

Yeah, it's not like humans have ever run vaccination programs to get rid of viruses before. That's silly talk.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Without the Olympics, we lose the urgency to get vaccinations rolling, and with that a resumption of international travel. If they are canceled, don't expect to get a vaccine till next year at the earliest. Which means no chance of visiting your relatives in the near future.

I would rather the Olympics go ahead so I can get my vaccine and get out of here in the summer. Without that, there's a good chance we'll all be stuck here till god knows when.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

No evidence that, mass vaccination will work

I’m actually referring to these new short term tested vaccines. I took Hep B vaccine and I have been safe all my life. Not an anti-vaxxer.

The vaccines are effective against the mutant virus.

Can I really take this seriously? So far there are 3 new RECENT mutations. Clinical Stage 3 testing requires over 28000 human trials. In less than a month?

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Easily solved.

Let Tokyo have the 2024 Olympics and shift Paris and LA by 4 years.

This ensures the financial burden isn’t only on Tokyo and gives the world a chance to recover from COVID.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Anyone supporting the Tokyo Olympics at the point is either missing their brain or their heart if not both. The IOC is nothing more than a parasite that sucks money out of its host city. They are evil in any situation but to force the games on Tokyo when the country is looking at the possibility of financial collapse is beyond anything I would have expected. Suga would be wise to follow Sweden in regards to how the Northern European country handled the IOC and their ridiculous demands to host the winter games. In a Sports Illustrated article that the IOC tried desperately to bury, the IOC found their bags in the lobby and were told to take buses back to the airport after reviewing the IOC’s obscene requirements.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

The real question is, what is the 20% thinking?

This is a telephone survey, so it will be mostly old people who have a land line and pick it up when it rings. Change the demographic, and I think you'd find more opposition.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Never underestimate the greed and contempt for the people by this government.

There's only money to be made if sponsors cough it up. If, for example, the US network who won broadcasting rights decided that an Olympics with no, or limited audience, or Games without all countries represented was not fit to be held, and therefore would not be paying for the rights, there would be little profit for the greedy government.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

And yet, they will still insist it is "for the people" despite the will of the people being the opposite, and it ALWAYS has been. They've milked the Tohoku disasters for it, the nuclear bombings, and now say it will be representative of "overcoming" covid-19, which has still barely started to do its damage with a third variant.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

It's not going to happen, Sports day is canceled. Trillions of yen lost. How's that reconstruction going?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

With new variants of virus emerging here and there, there is no guarantee that they will disappear in several months' time. As such, it would be best to postpone the Olympics indefinitely.

Saving lives should be much more crucial and essential than playing games..

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I'm truly surprised that anyone would still be supporting this. Must have mainly interviewed all the people who took bribes, work for Dentsu or the IOC or are in the government.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

@Mocheake,

Great comments.

I fully agree with you.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Remember folks..The IOC member from Canada said that Athletes should have the vaccine before anyone else! I bet he already had his! In other news, I vote to cancel the Olympics...not delay them. Count me in coach!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Is this where I kick and scream about how they should be cancelled? Don't worry people! The IOC rep from Canada said Olympic Athletes around the world should have priority over any for the COVID shot! I wonder if he gave up his shot and gave it to an athlete..

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I think cancelling the olympics is a foregone conclusion at this point. Unfortunately Suga and his friends are sitting in a soundproof room like George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor Soldier Spy ignoring the chorus of disapproval.

Most likely he will act at the last moment, when he can pivot and put the blame on the athletes not coming or basically anyone else.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Since the torch relay is scheduled to start on March 25, the decision to cancel will have to be made before then, just as it was last year when they postponed the Games. But the IOC makes decision, not the Japanese government. So I imagine there are a lot of phone calls going back and forth between the IOC chief Thomas Bach, the Japan Olympic Committee and Prime Minister Suga. They'll probably tell Koike after the decision is made. I remember how livid she was when they shifted the marathon to Sapporo without informing her in advance.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Most likely he will act at the last moment, when he can pivot and put the blame on the athletes not coming or basically anyone else.

THat would be commensurate of the way Japan behaves. It's everybody elses fault, not ours. I would not be suprised if Japan started demanding compensation if (when) the games are cancelled.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Suga can't make a decision. You've seen him looking down at prewritten notes every time he talks, that means all the questions have been submitted beforehand so that he has a chance to ask his master what to say.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

IT WON'T HAPPEN!! The government expect people to confine themesleves to their homes and not go out except to work but on the other hand expect them to come out and support to olympics.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

No Olympics period.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

zoroto:

Over 25% of the wrestlers infected, but they still went ahead with it without any changes whatsoever.

And obesity is one of the underlying health conditions which puts you in the high risk category. But please, go ahead.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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