The first step. Decisive. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke on Tuesday with IOC President Thomas Bach. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, Chair of the Organizing Committee Yoshiro Mori and Japanese Minister for the Olympic Games Seiko Hashimoto also participated in the conference call. As the Japanese media Sankei announced, the Japanese government has announced its desire for a “one-year postponement. This will allow the athletes to prepare in the best conditions and it will allow for a safe and secure event ”. The Japanese leader, after the exchange, told the press that the strong man of the IOC had assured to agree "100%".
The door ajar on Sunday evening by the International Olympic Committee to a postponement of the Tokyo Olympics (scheduled from July 24 to August 9), due to the Covid-19 pandemic, cleared the way for three options: autumn 2020, summer 2021 or summer 2022. Japan favors a postponement of one year which will provide better readability, better visibility at all levels whether they are health related to the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic or sports for athletes who will be able to prepare for the deadline. Renaud Lavillenie, president of the commission of the International Federation, underlined, this Tuesday, in an interview with L'Equipe: "For us, at the commission, the best is to envisage a postponement over a year so that, Basically, on January 1, 2021 everyone can say, here we went for seven months of preparation, training, competition. And that, in all sports, everyone can have the same conditions. ”
An intense period of negotiation and consultation between the various stakeholders will now continue between the various stakeholders (IOC, Japanese government, Japanese organizing committee, broadcasters, partners, international federations, National Federations, National Olympic Committees, athletes ... ) to find common ground and manage to deliver the Games on the date chosen by the Japanese organizers. The deadline year will also include the Paralympic Games.
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