In March, the IOC and the Japanese government made an unprecedented decision, postponing the Tokyo Olympics by a year to July 2021. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the Olympics may not be held in case the COVID-19 epidemic is not controlled or there is a special vaccine and Thomas Bach has also predicted this possibility. To date, 17,100 people have been infected with COVID-19 in Japan with 797 deaths.
To be honest, I understand the current situation, when I cannot always use 3,000 or 5,000 people in the organizing committee. You cant change the entire schedule of world sports every year, you cant make athletes wait until the end of the season without a plan to plan for them, Bach told BBC.
Thomas Bach stressed that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said there is no plan B in the event that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics continue to be delayed in 2021 and the only option is to cancel the biggest sporting event on the planet.
The postponement of the Olympics for another year has caused great disruption when a series of tournaments were postponed, to suit the new situation. The IOC also has to spend an additional $800 million to organize events next year.
According to the IOC, further delays in the Tokyo Olympics will directly impact preparations for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. Thomas Bach's comments were in line with the confirmation by local Organizing Committee head Yoshiro Mori that the Tokyo Olympics would be canceled in the event of further delays.
