TOKYO: Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori said on Tuesday that Japan would hold the Summer Olympics regardless of the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and was working closely with the International Olympic Committee to make them happen.
“We will hold the Olympics, regardless of how the coronavirus [situation] looks,” Mr. Mori said, adding that the discussion should focus on how, not whether, the Olympics will happen.
“We must consider new ways of hosting the Olympics” as a part of that, he said.
Mori added that while working together had its difficulties, Tokyo 2020 organisers and the IOC had a strong relationship.
Mori was speaking at the start of a meeting with Japan’s Sports Research Commission.
The 2020 Games were postponed last year due to the global spread of the novel coronavirus.
A recent spike in infections in Japan that triggered a state of emergency in some areas has fuelled speculation about whether the rescheduled Games can be held this summer.
