Olympics
The former deputy chairman
of the 2012 London Olympic organising committee said on Tuesday he would be
planning for a cancellation if in charge of the Tokyo Games.
Keith Mills told BBC radio
that the delayed Olympics, scheduled for July-August, were looking unlikely to
happen in his opinion due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"If I was sitting in
the shoes of the organising committee in Tokyo, and thankfully I'm not, I would
be making plans for a cancellation," he said.
"I'm sure they have
plans for a cancellation but I think they will leave it to absolutely the last
minute in case the situation improves dramatically and in case the vaccines
roll out faster.
"It's a tough call and
I wouldn't like to be in their shoes."
Japanese Prime Minister
Yoshihide Suga has vowed to forge ahead with preparations for the Games in the
face of growing public opposition as Japan battles a surge in coronavirus
infections.
Recent media polls showed
close to 80% of Japanese believe the Olympics, already postponed by a year
because of the pandemic, should be delayed again or cancelled entirely.
World Athletics head Seb
Coe, who was the chairman of the 2012 organising committee, told Sky News he
did not think the Games would be cancelled but they would be a challenge and a
very different experience.
"Of all the countries
on the planet that really has the fortitude, and resilience and the
street-smarts to see this through, it is actually Japan," he said.
"I wake up as a
federation president really grateful that it is Japan that's dealing with this
and not some other places that I can think of. So I'm sure we will be there.
"I think there will be
big issues around crowds and distancing the athletes. Just think about the
village, you've got 10,500 athletes and probably another 7,000 support staff in
there and they're all probably wanting to eat at roughly the same time,"
he added.
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