Japan Olympic Committee board member blasts Tokyo Games organisers

Kaori Yamaguchi, a former Olympic medallist in judo, accused the Japanese government, the Tokyo 2020 organising committee and the IOC of "avoiding dialogue".

Published : Jun 04, 2021 09:59 IST , TOKYO

A series of comments by IOC officials, including one by IOC vice president John Coates that the Olympics would be held even under a state of emergency, have sparked outrage in Japan.

A series of comments by IOC officials, including one by IOC vice president John Coates that the Olympics would be held even under a state of emergency, have sparked outrage in Japan.

A Japanese Olympic Committee board member on Friday blasted organisers of the Tokyo Games for ignoring public concerns about holding the global sporting showpiece amid a pandemic but said it was too late to cancel.

"The International Olympic Committee (IOC) appeared to think it could steamroll over the wishes of the Japanese public, who, opinion polls show, overwhelmingly want the games cancelled or postponed," Kaori Yamaguchi said in an opinion piece carried by Japan's Kyodo news agency.

Already postponed from last year because of the pandemic, a scaled-down version of the Games with no foreign spectators is set to start on July 23 despite public fears the event could drain medical resources and spread the coronavirus as Japan battles the fourth wave of infections.

Yamaguchi, a former Olympic medallist in judo, accused the Japanese government, the Tokyo 2020 organising committee and the IOC of "avoiding dialogue".

"The IOC also seems to think that public opinion in Japan is not important," she said.

"I believe we have already missed the opportunity to cancel ... We have been cornered into a situation where we cannot even stop now. We are damned if we do, and damned if we do not."

A series of comments by IOC officials, including one by IOC vice president John Coates that the Olympics would be held even under a state of emergency, have sparked outrage in Japan.

The Japanese government also says the Games can go ahead safely despite a slow vaccine rollout and rising numbers of severe coronavirus cases straining the medical system. The country has recorded nearly 750,000 cases and more than 13,000 deaths.

Seiko Hashimoto, head of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, said on Thursday that it was important in such difficult times to bring a divided world together with the "power of sports".