Tokyo 2020: Muto not ruling out last-minute cancellation of the Games

Bengaluru, July 20: The Tokyo Olympics is set to get underway on July 23, but the organising committee for the Games said on Tuesday that they have not ruled out a last-minute cancellation of the quadranniel event.

After being postponed by a year, the threat of cancellation is still there, as the number of positive cases in the Games village is on the rise and the head of the organising committee, Toshiro Muto, said at a news conference that he would closely monitor the number of rising cases and if necessary hold discussions with the organisers.

With the games set to begin on Friday, Reuters quoted Muto as saying, "We can't predict what will happen with the number of coronavirus cases. So we will continue discussions if there is a spike in cases.

"We have agreed that bases on the coronavirus situation, we will convene five-party talks again. At this point, the coronavirus cases may rise or fall, so we will think about what we should do when the situation arises," stated Muto.

The opening ceremony of the gala event is set to be heald on Friday and due to the rising cases in Tokyo, the Olympics, which was already closed to fans from abroad, will be closed from local fans as well. As more and more athletes test positive, fear of a cancellation is growing amidst the organisers. In a build up to the Games, anti-Olympic protests had been held across the host city as the covid numbers rapidly grew in Tokyo.

As more and more positive cases crop up, the opening ceremony is set to take place without any major Olympic sponsors, taking more sheen out of the major event.

(With input from agencies)