Less than five months before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games (from July 24 to August 9) and in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, which has already led to the postponement and cancellation of several sporting events around the world, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), meeting in executive commission in Lausanne (Switzerland) for two days, announced on Tuesday preparing for "a successful Olympic Games".
"The IOC remains fully committed to the success of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games," said Thomas Bach, the president of the body. A task force (Editor's note: comprising the IOC, the Organizing Committee for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the city of Tokyo, the Japanese government and the World Health Organization) has been in place since mid-February and according to its information , we remain very confident in the success of the Games […] I would like to encourage all athletes to continue their preparation, with great confidence. We will have to prepare a lot of final decisions, which we will have to make in June, and make proposals for the IOC session that will precede the Games. "
The IOC, however, did not refer to the words of the Japanese Minister for the Olympic Games, who clarified that Japan risks being deprived of the Games if they are postponed beyond 2020. Seiko Hashimoto indicated that, According to article 66 of the contract between the city, the Japanese Olympic committee and the IOC, the latter has the right to cancel the Games if they are not organized before the end of the year. For the minister, "the end of May will be crucial to make a decision."
