Coronavirus: Hint of Japan delaying Olympics

Japan's Olympic minister is of the opinion that the upcoming Summer Games, according to the contract, can be held anytime in 2020. Even though the official start date of the Games is July 24, Seiko Hashimoto, the minister, while answering a query in the upper house of the parliament on Tuesday, said organisers could postpone it till the end of the year if the threat of the coronavirus (the virus that’s responsible for causing COVID-19) persists. 

“Looking at the contract once again, it says in Article 66 that the IOC holds the right to cancel the Games by deactivating the contract if... the Games are not held in 2020,” Hashimoto told parliament. “This can be interpreted to mean the Games can be postponed as long as they are held during the calendar year.” COVID-19’s spread has put paid to a number of events in Japan. But Hashimoto said the organisers are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the Games are not affected. Meanwhile, IOC president, Thomas Bach, said the world body “are preparing for a successful Olympic Games,” during the opening of a two-day EB meeting in Lausanne.