25 Feb, 2020 @ 21:34
1 min read

Olympics in Tokyo ‘facing cancellation’ due to coronavirus outbreak but leading IOC member Dick Pound predicts it will be ‘business as usual’

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THE Tokyo Olympics has a three-month window to decide whether it can take place due to the coronavirus. 

That’s the estimation made by Dick Pound, the longest-serving member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In an exclusive interview with the Associated Press, Pound conceded that the games, due to start in the Japanese capital on July 24, are under threat, but assured that it will ‘most likely’ be business as usual.

“You could certainly go to two months out if you had to,” he told AP, “A lot of things have to start happening.

“You’ve got to start ramping up your security, your food, the Olympic Village, the hotels, the media folks will be in there building their studios.”

Avoiding sounding alarmist, Pound said that if it got too close to the games without sufficient advances made against the virus, ‘you could be looking at a cancellation.’

Coronavirus

He added: “This is the new war and you have to face it. In and around that time, I’d say folks are going to have to ask: ‘Is this under sufficient control that we can be confident about going to Tokyo, or not?’

“As far as we all know you’re going to be in Tokyo. All indications are at this stage that it will be business as usual.

“So keep focused on your sport and be sure that the IOC is not going to send you into a pandemic situation.”

If cancelled, it would be the second-time for Tokyo after the 1940 games were called off due to its war with China.

It comes as its closest neighbour reported another 508 cases today and a further 71 deaths.

It brings the totals in the country to 77,658 cases and 2,663 deaths.

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Laurence Dollimore

Laurence Dollimore is a Spanish-speaking, NCTJ-trained journalist with almost a decade’s worth of experience.
The London native has a BA in International Relations from the University of Leeds and and an MA in the same subject from Queen Mary University London.
He earned his gold star diploma in multimedia journalism at the prestigious News Associates in London in 2016, before immediately joining the Olive Press at their offices on the Costa del Sol.
After a five-year stint, Laurence returned to the UK to work as a senior reporter at the Mail Online, where he remained for two years before coming back to the Olive Press as Digital Editor in 2023.
He continues to work for the biggest newspapers in the UK, who hire him to investigate and report on stories in Spain.
These include the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Mail Online, Mail on Sunday and The Sun and Sun Online.
He has broken world exclusives on everything from the Madeleine McCann case to the anti-tourism movement in Tenerife.

GOT A STORY? Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call +34 951 273 575 Twitter: @olivepress

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