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The Olympic flame has arrived in Japan - but whether the games can be held in the summer remains unclear. Criticism of the IOC, which does not yet want to talk about a postponement, is increasing.
Under the impact of the global corona virus pandemic, the Olympic flame from Greece for the 2020 Olympic Games arrived in Japan.
In a ceremony smaller than originally intended, the Olympic flame was received at a military base in the northeast of the main island of Honshu. Because of the risk of further spread of the corona virus, only 200 were allowed to participate.
Northeastern Japan was hit particularly hard in 2011 by the devastating earthquake and tsunami. The torch is to be carried in a relay race from March 26 through the Fukushima Prefectures with the destroyed nuclear power plant, Miyagi and Iwate. It should reach Tokyo in four months.
Japanese organizers called for caution about the risk of contracting the coronavirus - if this is not followed, the run must be ended.
In Greece, the torch relay was stopped on the second day after the symbolic lighting of the flame on March 12 to avoid large crowds.
However, it is still uncertain whether the games can even start as planned. The Japanese organizers, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) have so far maintained their plans to host the Olympics from July 24th to August 9th and the Paralympics from August 25th to September 6th.
The President of the Japanese Organizing Committee, Yoshihiro Mori, said his team would work closely with the International Organizing Committee (IOC), the Japanese government, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to ensure safe gaming in the face of the corona pandemic.
The optimism of the organizers that the Olympic Games can take place is skeptical of the Japanese public. In a poll published by the Kyodo news agency, almost 70 percent of respondents said they didn't think the games would start as planned.
However, IOC President Thomas Bach is still against any kind of speculation about a transfer. In an interview with the New York Times, the German said:
"Of course we consider different scenarios, but unlike many other sports associations or professional leagues, we are still four and a half months away from the games."
Leagues worldwide are more optimistic than the IOC "because they have postponed their events until April or late May. We are talking about late July," said Bach.
IOC boss Bach wants to wait with a decision to move the games.
Bach receives support from canoe association leader Thomas Konietzko. "Imagine what a positive sign it would be for the world if we succeeded in making the Olympic Games the first event after this global crisis," said the official of the newspaper "Neues Deutschland".
With the success of Olympia in Japan, it can be demonstrated "what a connecting force sport has for a society".
There is still a chance that the world can get the virus under control. A decision about the summer games in late April or early May is possible. However, the 56-year-old admitted that the chances of hosting the Tokyo games would decrease "day by day".
Even if the Olympic opening date can be met, there are problems. Because most qualification competitions are currently canceled or postponed. Only 55 percent of the athletes have their Tokyo ticket secure, as Bach recently revealed. The IOC therefore wants to allow hardship rules.
In the meantime, however, the demands for a cancellation or a postponement of the Olympic Games in Tokyo are becoming increasingly louder on the part of the athletes.
After a conference call by the IOC with 220 representatives from the ranks of the athletes, the Verein Athleten Deutschland had criticized the stubborn stance of the Olympic makers.
"The conditions for the qualification are currently catastrophic, we don't know anything, and the athletes are at different levels of performance. A postponement of the games would be the best solution in terms of sport," said the athlete spokeswoman for the German Boxing Association, Nadine Apetz, "Spiegel". She emphasized: "I don't see Olympia taking place."
The American media group Discovery with its subsidiary Eurosport sees the uncertainties calmly. "Since we are covered for every eventuality, I do not expect Discovery to be harmed in any decision regarding the Olympic Games in Tokyo," said CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
Discovery continues the "operational preparations" and "follows the guidelines of the IOC," said Wiedenfels. Five years ago, the company bought TV rights to the Summer and Winter Olympics from 2018 to 2024 for an estimated 1.3 billion euros. ARD and ZDF later acquired sublicenses, so that pictures of the Olympic competitions are shown in Germany on Eurosport and on public channels.
