Skepticism mounts among health experts, athletes

The countdown to this summer's quadrennial sporting extravaganza entered its final stages on Friday with the arrival of the Olympic flame in Japan.

However, due to the novel coronavirus pneumonia pandemic, debate is continuing over whether the Tokyo Olympics should be held.

As of press time, no decision had been taken to suspend or cancel the Games.

Despite growing skepticism among health experts and athletes, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach defended his organization's stance on Friday that the "cancelation of the Olympics is not on the agenda".

Bach said it would not be responsible to set a deadline for a decision on the Olympics, because it would be based on speculation, adding that the IOC has a task force, including the World Health Organization, which said it was too early to make such a decision.

Most organizing officials in Tokyo also feel it is too soon to make a decision to cancel the Games. The opening ceremony is scheduled for July 24.

In an earlier interview, Bach said the IOC would take advice from the WHO on whether the Games should be canceled or postponed. "It is critical that athletes from the most-affected countries and regions are given a fair chance to compete," he said.

"Cancelation would destroy the Olympic dream of 11,000 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees and the IOC refugee team. You cannot postpone the Olympic Games like a soccer match. This is a very complex business, where you can only act responsibly if you have a reliable and clear basis for decision-making, and we monitor this every day, 24 hours a day," said Bach, a 66-year-old former Olympic fencer.

Professional athletes and coaches who have been infected include National Basketball Association players Kevin Durant and Rudy Gobert in the United States, and in the world of soccer, Daniele Rugani, a defender with Italian club Juventus, and Mikel Arteta, manager of Arsenal in the English Premier League. Kozo Tashima, vice-chairman of the Japan Olympic Committee, also tested positive on Tuesday.

A number of sports events in Japan have been canceled or postponed as the virus spreads. On March 1, the Tokyo Marathon was limited to about 200 professional runners, while national baseball games, horse racing and the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament were held behind closed doors.

Olympic qualifying events are also facing delays. China, Italy, Singapore and many other countries have announced the postponement of qualification for the swimming. FINA, the sport's international governing body, is also discussing whether to suspend major events for the next three months, including synchronized swimming and water polo qualification for the Olympics.

The International Judo Federation has announced that it will suspend world ranking points, which are also used as Olympic qualification.

Some qualification is still going ahead, for now, in countries not severely affected by the outbreak, with several Chinese boxers securing their tickets to Tokyo at an event in Amman, Jordan, on March 11.

Some athletes are concerned about the lack of training during the outbreak and whether they will be able to travel to Japan to compete, as many countries have imposed quarantine measures.

USA Swimming and UK Athletics have called for the Tokyo 2020 organizers to delay the Games for 12 months.

In a statement on Friday, the Norwegian National Olympic Committee said the Games should be delayed until the pandemic is brought under control. On Saturday, the Brazilian Olympic Committee endorsed postponing the Games until next year.

In an interview with the national newspaper Asahi Shimbun, Kaori Yamaguchi, a member of the Japanese Olympic Committee board who won a bronze medal in judo at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, said, "Starting the Olympics at a time when athletes cannot train as much as they want to runs counter to the motto of 'athletes first'."