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Tokyo: With just 10 weeks remaining for the start of the Olympics on 23 July 2021, there has been pressure mounting on the Olympics committee to postpone or reschedule the sporting event due to the concerns surrounding Covid-19. The Tokyo Olympics were supposed to take place in the Japanese summer of 2020, but they were canceled as last year saw a surge in the cases of Covid-19.
CEO of the E-Commerce company, Rakuten Hiroshi Mikitani said that hosting Olympics this year is a “suicide mission” and he is trying to convince the government against it. The Olympics organization committee is facing heat from common Japanese people and also some Japanese celebrities.
“I have been very straightforward and the fact that we are so late for the vaccination is dangerous to host a big international event,” Mikitani said CNN in an interview.
“So, the risk is too big and… I’m against having the Tokyo Olympics this year,” he added. When asked if it is possible to cancel the event, Mikitani said ‘Everything is possible.”
“I have talked privately with people and many are not in favor of hosting Tokyo Olympics this year. To be honest, I call it a suicide mission and we should stop. We try to convince them (the Japanese government) but not successful so far,” he concluded.
Naomi Osaka also ‘not sure’ about playing in Olympics
“I would feel, of course, definitely a bit sad, but at the end of the day, it’s an honour to play in the Olympics in the first place and if that’s what keeps people healthy, then I’m up for [playing behind closed doors],” Osaka said to BBC.
The four-time grand slam winner said, “I’m an athlete, and of course my immediate thought is that I want to play in the Olympics,” she said.
“But as a human, I would say we’re in a pandemic, and if people aren’t healthy, and if they’re not feeling safe, then it’s definitely a really big cause for concern.”
The Covid-19 cases in Japan are on a record high and so far, only 1% of the total Japanese population has been vaccinated. So, it is a risk to hold the Olympics in the middle of a pandemic.
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