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TOKYO – A mobile app could be among the measures used to track the health of foreign fans if they are allowed to attend next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
An interim report on contingencies for the Tokyo Games was released on Wednesday. It was compiled by the Japanese government, the Tokyo city government, and local organizers.
The part concerning the app was leaked earlier in the day by the Japanese newspaper Nikkei. He was greeted on social media with unhappy responses from Japanese citizens who fear the Olympics could endanger their health.
Japan, with a population of 125 million, has controlled the virus better than most countries, with just over 2,100 deaths attributed to Covid-19. But Tokyo has experienced a record number of infections in recent weeks.
Toshiro Muto, executive director of the local organizing committee, explained some of the report’s findings. But he lacked details in the online briefing. Some proposals can be scrapped as conditions change and almost everything is subject to review.
“Overall, I think we would like to be able to work out the details by next spring,” he said, suggesting that the groundwork for many contingencies had been prepared with the possibility of vaccines and rapid tests on the horizon.
It was in the spring of eight months ago that the organizers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) finally decided to postpone the Olympics after repeatedly saying they would go ahead this year.
Muto hinted again that the Tokyo Olympics may not be very fun. Athletes will compete and then are expected to go home.
“The basic principle is that the period of accommodation in the Athletes’ Village is supposed to be minimized as much as possible,” Muto said. “We want to be sure that the Athletes’ Village doesn’t get too dense. And after the games we would like [athletes] return [home] as soon as possible.”
He was bluntly asked if the Olympics would have a “celebratory atmosphere.”
“If the games are to be held under the Covid-19 pandemic, I don’t think the Olympics will be as festive as they have been in the past,” he said. “We decided to have a simplified Olympic Games. Therefore, as you can see from the planning of the opening ceremony, the Tokyo Olympics will be simplified rather than celebrated. “
Muto was also asked about the cost of the one-year deferral, but said he didn’t know yet. Some Japanese newspapers reported several days ago, citing anonymous sources close to the organizing committee, that the cost of the delay will be approximately $ 3 billion.
“We are in the process of calculating how much the cost is,” Muto said. “We would like to reach a decision as soon as possible, but when it will arrive, I cannot give you a specific date. But by the end of the year we would like to make an effort to find an answer. “
He was also asked if the vaccination of fans from abroad would be required.
“This is a scenario that we will begin to examine once the vaccine is actually available,” he said.
Meanwhile, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) pledged Thursday to give members and athletes its largest grant fund of 1.8 million euros ($ 2.2 million) next year.
The IPC said it would start awarding grants in February, six months before the August 24 opening ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympic Games, which was delayed a year by the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is the largest single investment ever made by the IPC in its members when they need it most,” said the president of the German-based organization, Andrew Parsons, in a statement.
The funding was announced on the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities. It was supported by IPC sponsors Toyota and Citi.
