OLYMPIC GAMES SITUATION

OLYMPIC GAMES SITUATION

TOKYO (JPN): The Japanese Government has strongly denied reports the Olympic Games in Tokyo will be cancelled owing to the coronavirus pandemic, informs insidethegames.biz. Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Manabu Sakai said there was "absolutely no truth" in the story published in The Times which claimed the government had concluded Tokyo 2020 would be cancelled. Organisers remain confident the Games will go ahead and IOC President Thomas Bach has also said there was "no reason whatsoever" for the Olympics not to go ahead on July 23.

The #IOC has confirmed it is "fully concentrated on and committed to" staging the @Tokyo2020 #Olympics and #Paralympics this year https://t.co/8anRYCSHxt #Tokyo2020 #Japan #coronavirus @iocmedia

-- insidethegames (@insidethegames) January 22, 2021

TOKYO (JPN): Veteran IOC member Dick Pound believes "there is a very good chance" the Olympic Games will take place but behind closed doors, informs The Japan Times. "It's nice to have spectators. But it's not a must-have. Nobody can guarantee (that the Olympics will go ahead as planned) but I think there's a very, very, good chance that they can, and that they will," he said.

Organisers of the @Tokyo2020 #Olympics and #Paralympics have denied the Games have been cancelled, with the Japanese Government claiming there is "absolutely no truth" in the reports https://t.co/hPhLDItoDb #Tokyo2020 #Japan #coronavirus

-- insidethegames (@insidethegames) January 22, 2021

MONACO (MON): World Athletics President Sebastian Coe is confident the Olympic Games will go ahead as planned this summer, informs Reuters. "The government in Japan, the organising committee, the international federations and particularly the athletes are all unified in their determination to try to deliver a Games that is safe and secure. It's a challenge but it's the challenge that at this very moment all the key players are actually up for an that's why I have a confidence, with the insights as an international federation - the number one Olympic sport - can bring to bear on that," he said.

We are back in early 2020, folks. The "no plan B" line must be up there with the likes of "toolbox" as one of Bach's most uttered phrases of the past year #Tokyo2020 #Olympics https://t.co/0GmC7TqckX

-- Liam Morgan (@LMorgan21) January 21, 2021