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The Government of Japan insisted this Friday on its idea of holding the Olympic Games scheduled for this summer in the Japanese capital, despite rumors about its possible cancellation and the seriousness of the pandemic situation in the country and in the rest of the world.
“I am determined to organize a safe Games while working closely with the Tokyo metropolitan government, the (2020) organizing committee and IOC,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said today., during his appearance in a session of the upper house of the Japanese Parliament.
Suga reiterated that the Games must serve “as proof of humanity’s victory against covid-19”, the message that the Japanese authorities have been waving since last March, as a result of the pandemic, it was decided to postpone the Games initially planned for the summer of 2020 by one year.
The Japanese leader spoke like this amid the growing voices that both from Japan and abroad speak of a possible delay or even a cancellation of the Games Tokyo due to the global health crisis, which is currently worse in terms of daily infections than last March.
On the eve, The British newspaper The Times published information that indicated that the Japanese Executive had already concluded that holding the Games this summer will be impossible, from sources in the ruling coalition.
The Japanese minister in charge of the Games, Seiko Hashimoto, denied this information in statements made to local media this Friday.
“From the Government of Japan we will make every effort towards the realization of the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer”, Hashimoto said when asked about the issue, adding that Japan “is doing everything possible to control the pandemic” and “taking the necessary measures” to hold the Games.
“I want to make it clear that there is nothing true in this information,” said Executive Vice-spokesman Manabu Sakai, when asked today at a press conference about the news collected by The Times.
A statement published today by the Government in reaction to this information repeated the message that Japan “continues to work vigorously and work closely with the IOC to host a safe Games and take all possible measures against the pandemic.”
The organizing committee of the Games expressed itself this Friday along the same lines, stating that the Japanese Government “leads a series of coordination meetings on the measures against covid-19 “and” is implementing extensive actions to prevent infections in order to hold the Games. ”
Both the Japanese authorities involved in the Games and the International Olympic and Paralympic Committees (IPC) “are fully focused on organizing the Games. this summer “, stressed in a statement those responsible for Tokyo 2020.
The Metropolitan Government of the capital also wanted to stand out from any possible cancellation of the event, and noted in a statement that, “as the host city, Tokyo will do its best” to carry out the Games together with the other organizations mentioned.