Tokyo Coronavirus

A mosaic of a Greek Goddess which was moved from the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Stadium to the new National Stadium, venue for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, is seen during a media tour following the stadium’s completion in Tokyo on December 15, 2019. – Tokyo formally unveiled its 60,000-seater main Olympic Stadium on December 15, more than seven months before the 2020 Opening Ceremony — with a host of special features to beat the feared heat. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)

Coronavirus: Olympics set to go ahead despite growing concern

Tokyo Olympics organisers said preparations were continuing as planned as Japan’s football league became the latest sporting victim of the coronavirus.

Tokyo Coronavirus

A mosaic of a Greek Goddess which was moved from the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Stadium to the new National Stadium, venue for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, is seen during a media tour following the stadium’s completion in Tokyo on December 15, 2019. – Tokyo formally unveiled its 60,000-seater main Olympic Stadium on December 15, more than seven months before the 2020 Opening Ceremony — with a host of special features to beat the feared heat. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)

The Tokyo Olympics organising committee are adamant that the summer games will go ahead later this year despite growing concern the event may be affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Japan’s domestic football season has been put on hold until mid-March due to growing fears of a pandemic in East Asia and beyond.

Coronavirus plays havoc with sport and life

The J-League have postponed a round of cup matches, sparking fears that the Olympics may be unable to go ahead as scheduled.

The organisers of the Tokyo games set to get underway on 24 July insist that postponement or cancellation of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad had not even been discussed.

“We have never discussed cancelling the Games,” said a Tokyo 2020 statement issued to AFP. “Preparations for the Games are continuing as planned.”

The J-League postponements come after South Korea’s K-League also suspended action while the Chinese Super League has been on hold since shortly after the outbreak of coronavirus in the Wuhan region of mainland China.

COVID-19 has had widespread impact on sport across Asia over the last month but the outbreak is expected to slow as temperatures rise.

Japan are monitoring developments in the region closely and a medical committee advising the government have warned that the next few weeks will be critical in preventing the outbreak from spreading out of control.

The preparations for the Olympic Games have been an expensive investment for stakeholders in Japan with Tokyo 2020’s final cost expected to top $12 billion.

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike has expressed confidence that the Summer Olympics will go ahead without a hitch.

“I think we are not yet reaching that point,” He said when asked if the schedule was under review.

International Olympic Committee also have faith that the games will start on schedule and go off without any coronavirus related hitches.

“The advice we have received from the World Health Organization is that there is no case for a contingency plan to cancel or move the Games,” Head of the International Olympic Committee coordination commission John Coates told press in Tokyo.

As the death toll beyond China rises so do fears that the outbreak could snowball into a pandemic.

Organisers of sporting events across Asia, including Olympic qualifiers have exercised caution either cancelling or postponing events. Formula One’s Chinese Grand Prix and the Hong Kong Sevens rugby are among the events put on hold.

Confirmed cases of coronavirus in Italy have seen football matches put on hold as well.

Japan has so far reported one fatality linked to coronavirus.