AP
Washington Hispanic:
The postponed Tokyo Olympics countdown clock reached 200 days to elapse on Monday.
Tick-Tock-Tick.
Also on Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he would consider calling a state of emergency as new Coronavirus cases would rise to record numbers in Tokyo and neighboring prefectures. Japan has never had a lockdown for COVID – 19, trying to juggle the economy and health risks.
Tick-Tock-Tick.
The deadline is about to arrive for the Tokyo Olympic organizers, the International Olympic Committee and several Japanese government entities as they attempt to hold the Games amid a pandemic.
Officials have promised to announce concrete plans early in the new year on how to achieve 15. 000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes in Japan; about the safety of the Athletes’ Village, and hundreds of thousands of fans, media, judges, officials, broadcasters and VIPs.
The new year is here.
Suga pledged again to hold the Olympics, saying it would be “proof that people have overcome the coronavirus.” And he said the vaccine approval would be sped up a month so that vaccines could start in February instead of March.
Japan has attributed more than 3. 400 deaths to COVID – 19, modest by global standards for a country of 125 million, but worrying as new cases increase rapidly. A poll last month by national broadcaster NHK shows that 63% want the Olympics to be postponed or canceled.
The governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, and the governors of the prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, called on the national government on Saturday to declare a state of emergency after the capital recorded a daily record of 1. 337 new cases on New Year’s Eve. That marked a jump of almost 400 in a few days.
Yoshiro Mori, chairman of the organizing committee and former prime minister, ruled out again any cancellation of the games in an interview several days ago with the Nikkan Sports newspaper. He was asked when a decision would be made about having local fans or fans from abroad.
“Sometime from March to May,” he replied. “The final deadline for a decision would be May, but it can come earlier.”
Any reduction in fans will affect the budget of the organizing committee. Tokyo has budgeted 800 millions of dollars for ticket sales, and any shortfall will have to be made up by government entities, which are paying most of the Olympic bills.
The official budget for the Tokyo Olympics was increased last month to 15. 400 million dollars, representing an increase of 2. 800 million dollars due to the delay. However, various government audits in recent years suggest that the actual number is about 25. 200 million dollars.
All but $ 6.7 billion is public money.
Mori said the opening ceremony, scheduled for July 23, could be problematic with thousands of athletes and officials gathered to parade through the stadium. He also suggested that the ceremony could not be shortened, as television stations had paid for the lucrative time. He said that some officials could be removed from the parade.
Television determines much of the Olympic programming, and the sale of broadcasting rights represents the 73% of IOC income. Another 18% comes from large sponsors such as Coca-Cola and Toyota.
The relief of The torch, which starts on 25 March, will also face overcrowding with 10. 000 expected runners over almost four months. Coca-Cola and Toyota are the main sponsors.