International Olympic Committee board to meet on Wednesday

The board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is meeting on Wednesday.

All reports indicate that the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympic Games is not on the agenda.

The IOC says athletes are being vaccinated in some countries, with Paralympic athletes being among the vulnerable.

However, the IOC will not stipulate that participants have to be vaccinated in order to take part.

Sports writer for the Japan Times, Dan Orlowitz says he does not believe travel bans will be imposed on countries with the new variants of the coronavirus.

“I don’t think that you can have an Olympic Games without athletes from the US, the UK, from South Africa or from Brazil. I think that’s an incredibly slippery slope. Obviously in the past, countries have abstained from participating for political boycotts. That situation does happen but this is something entirely different. I feel the narrative the IOC and the organisers have been pushing is for these games to be a triumph of humanity.”

United

Over the weekend, IOC President Thomas Bach, in a video message to mark the six-month countdown to the opening ceremony, said the entire Olympic movement is united in its determination to ensure the Tokyo Games happen in July and August.

Britain’s Times reported on Friday that Tokyo was looking to get out of hosting the Games, drawing sharp criticism and flat denials.

The Japanese government dismissed the report, while Japan Olympic Committee head Yasuhiro Yamashita told Reuters it was a “fabrication” and “wrong”.

Bach did not directly address the Times report, nor mention by name the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the postponement of the Games from last year, but said he was confident that they would go ahead from July 23 to August 8.

“Six months ahead of the Games, the entire Olympic movement is looking forward to the opening ceremony on July 23,” Bach said.

-Additional reporting by Reuters.