TOKYO, Feb 15 (NNN-NHK) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC), said here on Friday that, the Tokyo Olympic Games will be held on time, with no possibility to be cancelled or moved elsewhere, despite the coronavirus outbreak.
John Coates, head of the IOC’s coordination commission, said, after a two-day meeting with local organisers, “We can confirm that the target of Tokyo 2020 remains on track, to showcase the city of Japan and present the best opportunities for world’s best athletes to perform.”
He said, both sides talked about the situation and after exchanging information, “it reinforced our confidence that the measures taken by relevant organisations are probably addressing the situation, along with China.
“We will be able to ensure the Games to go ahead.”
He said, they received advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and “there’s no case for any contingency plans or cancelling the Games or moving the Games.”
“We will work closely with WHO,” he said. “We will continue to monitor, particularly the Chinese that will be coming here … You’ll find that the Chinese teams are mostly out of China. That’s the athletes and officials.”
He said, there will be no problem for Chinese athletes to enter Japan from countries other than China. And for Chinese fans, they will have to follow the rules of the Japanese government. Chinese nationals from Hubei and Zhejiang Provinces have been barred from entering the country.
Coates said, even Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group, one of the IOC’s top partners, will have to “comply with the rules of the Japanese authorities.”
Ma was born in Zhejiang and Alibaba is also based in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang.– NNN-NHK
