TOKYO • Olympics chief Thomas Bach yesterday agreed that 2021 was the "last option" for holding the delayed Tokyo Games, stressing that postponement cannot go on forever.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) president also backed Japan's stance that the Games will be cancelled - something that has only happened during the world wars - if the coronavirus pandemic is not under control by next year.
In March, the Tokyo 2020 Games were postponed for the first time to July next year because of the Covid-19 crisis, which has killed hundreds of thousands around the world, halting most sporting competitions and paralysing air travel.
"Quite frankly, I have some understanding for (Japan's position) because you cannot forever employ 3,000, or 5,000, people in an organising committee," Bach told the BBC. "You cannot every year change the entire sports schedule worldwide for all the major federations.
"You cannot have the athletes being in uncertainty, you cannot have so much overlapping with a future Olympic Games."
Japanese officials have been clear they have no intention of postponing the Games again beyond next year and Bach said how the situation plays out remains unknown.
"We have established one principle, and this is to organise these Games in a safe environment for all the participants," he said. "Nobody knows what the world will look like in one year and two months from today, so we have to rely on (the World Health Organisation)."
While he was non-committal on whether a vaccine was a prerequisite for the Games, he was lukewarm on the idea of holding them behind closed doors, which has never happened before.
"This is not what we want," the German said. "Because the Olympic spirit is about also uniting the fans and this is what makes the Games so unique that they are in an Olympic stadium, all the fans from all over the world are together.
"But when it would come to the decision... I would ask you to give me some more time for consultation with the athletes, with the WHO, with the Japanese partners."
The IOC has already set aside US$800 million (S$1.13 billion) to help the organisers and sports federations meet the extra costs of a postponed Games.
According to the latest budget, the Games were due to cost US$12.6 billion, shared between the organising committee, the government of Japan and the Tokyo metropolitan government.
Acknowledging the "mammoth task", Bach added that the IOC and Games organisers were looking to pare down the costs.
"They will definitely be different, and they have to be different," he said. "If we all have learnt something during this crisis, (it is) to look to the essentials and not so much on the nice-to-have things.
"So this concentration on the essentials should be reflected in the organisation of these Games... there should be no taboo."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
