SYDNEY • Top Olympic official John Coates said yesterday that while Japanese sentiment turning against the Tokyo Games was a "concern", he could foresee no scenario under which the sporting showpiece would not go ahead.
Questions have been raised about the viability of staging the July 23-Aug 8 Games, with Tokyo in a fresh state of emergency as Japan continues to struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Coates, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) point man as chair of the coordination commission, said he had no doubt that the Games, postponed by a year because of the pandemic, would proceed as planned.
"Absolutely, it's going ahead," he told media after hosting the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) annual general meeting in Sydney. "The Prime Minister of Japan said that to the President of the United States two or three weeks ago. He continues to say that to the IOC."
His optimism was mirrored by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which on Friday backed the IOC, Japan and Tokyo to make the right choices in managing the Covid-19 risks around the Games.
The United Nations health agency said certain safety decisions regarding athletes, fans, the Olympic Village and venues could be taken only closer to the Games.
"It's not whether we will have an Olympics or not - it's how those individual risks within that framework are being managed," WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said in Geneva.
"Some of those decisions cannot be made until closer to the event, because it will depend on the epidemiologic situation at that time. So there's not a failing at all on behalf of the organisers that they haven't made certain decisions."
The WHO said it was down to Japanese authorities to decide what level of public attendance could take place at Olympic events. Organisers are due to decide next month how many fans - if any - will be allowed at the Games, with overseas spectators already barred from attending.
A virus state of emergency in Tokyo and other parts of Japan was extended on Friday, with restrictions also imposed in more regions as cases surge.
There is growing opposition in Japan towards the Olympics proceeding and over 230,000 people have signed a petition calling for them to be cancelled.
"That is a concern," Coates said. "As the vaccine is rolled out in Japan, I think that will improve."
He said it was also important for organisers to relay to the Japanese public the effectiveness of the precautions put in place to protect them, as illustrated by the ongoing Olympic test events in Tokyo.
"These measures we've been taking and trialling at the test events are working," he added. "The athletes at the test events are in a similar Olympic bubble to that they will be at the Games."
Coates also had to deal with discontent on home soil after criticism from two-time Olympian Liz Cambage over the lack of racial diversity in Olympic photos of Australian athletes.
The AOC president conceded a more diverse group of athletes should have been used in an advertisement for an underwear brand, but defended the AOC's broader record on race representation.
The AOC also announced it had amended its constitution to ensure a permanent indigenous representative on its Athletes' Commission.
An image from a promotional photo shoot with team sponsor Jockey released last week showed Australian Olympic and Paralympic athletes in sponsored outfits, but did not feature any athletes of colour.
Basketball player Cambage, a bronze medallist at the 2012 Games, launched a scathing attack on social media and suggested she might boycott the Tokyo Games if the situation did not change.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
