As events and celebrations worldwide are canceled one after another because of coronavirus, sports officials and athletes are focused on the face of the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Will the Olympics be held as planned, and if so, will there be anyone in the stands to watch?
The 2020 games are scheduled to open on July 24. This weekend, The New York Times revealed that the World Health Organization had held talks with dozens of medical experts from the World Sports Federation, which organizes and manages the Olympics.
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The meeting lasted approximately two hours and discussed worst-case scenarios for this summer's games and debated the pros and cons of allowing to proceed without any audience.
According to the proposal laid out during the meeting, only the national sports delegations, journalists, and broadcasters would be allowed onto the scene of the Tokyo Games.
The Times also reported that a WHO expert who took part in the discussion had said that one of the most important things would be a screening process for participants in the Olympics, based on a risk profile for each country and region.
Participants also touched on the possible risks of holding the Olympics in a closed venue vs. an open-air one, and the risks of sports that involve physical contact as opposed to the ones that don't.
The WHO declined to comment on the report and said that the WHO did not have a mandate to permit or cancel sports events, but rather to supply instructions and recommendations that are based on scientific data.
Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo said that the cancellation or relocation of this summer's Olympic Games was not up for discussion.
Over 11,090 athletes from 200 nations are scheduled to travel to Japan for the Olympics, with another 4,400 Paralympians slated to compete in their own games immediately afterward. Nearly 8 million tickets have been distributed, and some 600,000 fans from all over the world are expected to arrive in Tokyo in July.
Meanwhile, with four months to go before the opening of the 2020 Olympics, Japan is taking no chances. All schools in the country have been closed for the month of March and no events are allowed to take placed in closed venues. In addition, gatherings of over 1,000 have been prohibited. Japanese soccer, basketball, and other sports have been postponed, and the nation's biggest sumo tournament is scheduled to take place without an audience.
