The Tokyo Olympics face even graver consequences
In the world of sport by far the most upsetting effect of the pandemic has been upon the Olympics. Inevitably.
Is it fate that decided Tokyo would be the chosen host, and that it would suffer the effects of a third wave of coronavirus just as the opening ceremony is being prepared?
Tamayo Marukawa, the Olympics minister, has now announced that spectators will not be allowed to attend. A state of emergency has been declared for the capital. Could things get any worse?
And there the answer is ‘yes’, which is precisely why all these limitations are being set.
An Olympics without crowds is almost unimaginable. We may have got used to our local matches taking place behind closed doors, but this is on a quite different scale.
Keeping the athletes safe must be the first priority of the Organising Committee, but that will be a task on the most gigantic scale.
Marukawa’s immediate predecessor, Seiko Hashimoto, switched to taking on the job of President of the OC, and that was for the 2020 version. Therein lies one of the major confusions underlying the Olympics’ structure. So many authorities are involved; add the Japanese government, the Tokyo city council and the IOC to the brew, and somebody has to take the vital decisions.
In fact it is the IOC that has the privilege, though with such shattering consequences, of setting out the circumstances in which the Games can take place. Of course they have to discuss every detail with the other groupings.
The delicate subject of funding looms very large. Billions of dollars are at stake. The IOC has to assure the world that it is not judging the situation by the potential losses it would suffer. The same goes for the government which also has vast sums of money involved. Then there’s the question of national honour. There would be a huge loss of face for the government if the Games were called off. They were reluctant to postpone them last year; a second postponement is unthinkable, likewise a total cancellation.
Against this background we have to consider the lot of the athletes themselves. Many of them will already be used to the privations of bubbles and isolation. Having to suffer them again on this vast scale will be hard to take. For example, eating meals at precise times on ones own is not how any of us would imagine spending the climax of our sporting lives. The lack of social contact will deprive them of one of the greatest rewards offered to elite sportspeople.
We may not have heard the last major decision from Ms Marukawa.
