Olympic worries mount in Tokyo

Olympic worries mount in Tokyo

200,000 sign petition asking for Games to be scrapped as Covid emergency extended

A man takes pictures of the Olympic rings at the Odaiba waterfront in Tokyo on Thursday. (AFP Photo)
A man takes pictures of the Olympic rings at the Odaiba waterfront in Tokyo on Thursday. (AFP Photo)

TOKYO: An online petition calling for the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics had received over 200,000 signatures on Friday, just two days after its launch, as public fears over the coronavirus pandemic in Japan grow.

The development comes authorities extended a state of emergency covering Tokyo, having deemed more time is needed to bring down the number of Covid-19 cases.

As well, officials in Fukuoka announced they would cancel the Olympic torch relay in the prefecture, Kyodo News agency reported. It would be a first time that a whole prefecture would not have runners participating in the event, Kyodo said.

The Japan leg of the Olympic torch relay started in late March, but it has been taken off of public roads in some municipalities to prevent the further spread of the virus.

The petition, addressed to International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and other representatives of the organisers, says the games should not be held in order to protect people’s lives amid the global health crisis.

“With the circumstances that we are under, it is certainly unlikely that the Tokyo Olympics could be held safely,” said the English version of the Change.org petition that was started on Wednesday by lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya.

“The lack of medical resources that Tokyo and the rest of Japan is suffering from should suggest just how much the games will cause danger and fear to health care workers, citizens and participants,” it said.

According to Change.org, the anti-Olympic petition has garnered support at a faster pace than any other since the Japanese version of the platform was launched in 2012.

With less than three months until the scheduled opening of the Games in July, Tokyo has been under a third Covid state of emergency since late April, and the measure has now been extended to May 31 in an attempt to curb infections and ease the strain on hospitals.

Utsunomiya said on Twitter that he planned to compile all the signatures before Bach’s scheduled visit to Japan for a torch relay event on May 17 and meeting with Suga the next day.

But he is expected to continue the petition until the Olympics are called off, Change.org said in a press release.

Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Olympic organising committee, said Bach’s trip to the host country would be “very difficult” under present circumstances.

“I think it is very important to have President Bach look at the current situation. However, the state of emergency being extended will likely cause a huge burden on him to visit during that period,” she said on Friday.

Bach and the Japanese organising committee have both said it is possible to hold the Olympics and Paralympics safely. But media polls have constantly shown that a large majority of people in Japan oppose holding the Games this summer following a one-year postponement.

According to a nationwide survey conducted by Kyodo News in April, only 24.5% of the respondents supported the Olympics and Paralympics going ahead this summer.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and Sebastian Coe, World Athletics president, held a meeting in the Japanese capital, during which they reaffirmed their cooperation in the run-up to the Olympics.

While voicing understanding for people in Japan who are worried about the major sporting event, Coe said he would continue working with the host city so the games can deliver hope during this difficult time.

Coe, who led the organising body of the 2012 London Olympics, watched a test event for the marathon Wednesday in Sapporo. At the time, Coe said his visit was intended to show his organisation’s support for the Tokyo Games.

On Thursday, the IOC said it would provide athletes attending the Olympics and Paralympics with free doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

Japan’s vaccine rollout, which has been criticised as too slow, only began for those aged 65 and over last month, and it will be impossible for much of the general public to be inoculated by the start of the Olympics on July 23.

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