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Agence France-Presse

A senior Japanese politician said cancelling the Tokyo Olympics over the coronavirus remains a possibility on Thursday, as a surge in cases renews concerns about the Games with less than 100 days to go.
Toshiro Nikai, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s number two, said the Olympics must be cancelled “without hesitation” if the virus situation is too severe.
A year after their historic postponement, the 2020 Olympics remain beset by pandemic problems, with parts of the torch relay forced behind closed doors and public support consistently low.
Organisers and Olympic officials insist the Games will go ahead safely, but Nikai said Thursday that all options were on the table.
“We need to make a decision depending on the situation at the time,” he told the private TBS television network.
“We need to cancel it without hesitation if they’re no longer possible,” added Nikai, who is the LDP’s secretary general.
Asked if he considered cancellation an option, Nikai said: “Yes of course.”
“If infection spreads because of the Olympics, I don’t know what the Olympics is for.”


He added however that he sees the Games as an “opportunity”, and it was “important for Japan to foster excitement with support from the public”.
“We definitely want to make a success. In order to do so, there are various issues to solve,” he said. “It’s important to solve them one by one.”
The comments were quickly dismissed by an unnamed LDP official who told the Jiji news agency: “The Games will not be cancelled.”
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said she had “been told that the comment meant it is an option”.
“I take it as a message of strong encouragement that we contain the coronavirus by all means,” Koike said.


Nikai’s remarks come with fresh worries in Japan about what experts have called a fourth wave of infections.
Record numbers of cases have been reported in Osaka in recent days, and the government has been forced to authorise new restrictions just weeks after lifting a virus state of emergency.
The surge has already forced the Olympic torch relay off public roads in Osaka, and a city in western Japan also announced on Wednesday that it would cancel the public event.
Compounding the problem is the comparatively slow rollout of the vaccine in Japan, which has so far only approved the Pfizer/BioNTech version.
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Around 1.1 million people in the country of 126 million have received a first dose of vaccine so far, with the rollout only expanding to the elderly this week.
Despite the problems, Olympic organisers insist the Games can be held safely and have released virus rulebooks to allay public fears.
Athletes will not be required to quarantine or be vaccinated, but will have to limit movements and be tested regularly.
Overseas fans are barred from attending, with a decision on domestic spectators limits expected later this month.
However many fans are allowed to attend, the atmosphere will be markedly different from Games past, with cheering strictly banned.


Organisers note that sporting events are continuing in Japan, including some international fixtures like the World Team Trophy figure skating, which opens in Osaka on Thursday.
But opinion polls show a majority of Japanese favour postponing or cancelling of the Games, with those in support hovering below 30 per cent.
Medical professionals have also warned the Games are a risky prospect, with four experts writing in the British Medical Journal this week urging plans for the event “be reconsidered as a matter of urgency”.
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“International mass gathering events such as Tokyo 2020 are still neither safe nor secure,” they wrote.
Despite the obstacles, International Olympic Committee vice president John Coates on Wednesday said organisers were “certainly not” considering a cancellation.
“Of course we’re concerned, of course safety remains our priority, but we believe that we’re prepared for the worst situations,” he said.


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Coronavirus could still force Tokyo Olympics to be cancelled, senior Japanese politician warns

Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party. Photo: Bloomberg

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. Photo: Kyodo

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International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach, seen in this screen shot image, gives an online interview on Jan. 21, 2021. Bach voiced confidence that the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead this summer, saying there is "no plan B" even as doubts grow amid a sharp resurgence of coronavirus cases in the Japanese capital and elsewhere. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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People walk by posters promoting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics games planned to start this summer in Tokyo, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

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In this Aug. 3, 2011, file photo, a laborer eats a tomato at one of Asia's biggest wholesale markets, Azadpur mandi, in New Delhi, India. United Nations agencies are warning that more than 350 million people in the Asia-Pacific are going hungry as the coronavirus pandemic destroys jobs and pushes food prices higher. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi, File)

Tokyo Olympics boss Yoshiro Mori will quit over sexist remarks, Japanese media reports

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Coronavirus


‘If infections spread because of the Olympics, I don’t know what the Olympics is for,’ said Toshihiro Nikai, the Liberal Democratic Party’s secretary general
The pandemic-postponed Games open on July 23, and there are rising concerns in Japan about a spike in virus cases



‘If infections spread because of the Olympics, I don’t know what the Olympics is for,’ said Toshihiro Nikai, the Liberal Democratic Party’s secretary general.


Coronavirus could still force Tokyo Olympics to be cancelled, senior Japanese politician warns

‘If infections spread because of the Olympics, I don’t know what the Olympics is for,’ said Toshihiro Nikai, the Liberal Democratic Party’s secretary general The pandemic-postponed Games open on July 23, and there are rising concerns in Japan about a spike in virus cases

‘If infections spread because of the Olympics, I don’t know what the Olympics is for,’ said Toshihiro Nikai, the Liberal Democratic Party’s secretary general

The pandemic-postponed Games open on July 23, and there are rising concerns in Japan about a spike in virus cases