2024-04-19 00:25:41
Text: Editorial Cuba Noticias 360
While the president of the International Olympic Committee, the German Thomas Bach, insists that the Tokyo Olympic Games will be held however they want, uncertainty continues to fuel from the same Asian nation almost five months before the opening.
In Cuba, the same doubts hover over the offices of sports leaders and training centers, a situation that is increasingly tense due to the complicated epidemiological situation; especially in Havana where even the main high-performance venue, Cerro Pelado, has not escaped Covid-19 outbreaks.
This Monday it was learned that more than half of Japanese companies believe that the Tokyo Olympics should be canceled or postponed.
That was the result of the survey conducted by the Tokyo Shoko Research think tank, which casts more doubt on the fate of the Games already postponed since last summer.
The research, conducted online from February 1 to 8, showed that 56.0% of companies surveyed feel Japan should cancel or postpone the Games, up from 53.6% in the previous survey in August.
Only 7.7% of companies said the Games should go ahead in full form as scheduled this year, down from 22.5% in the previous survey.
Almost 20% answered that the Games should be held with a limited number of spectators, while another 17% said they should continue without spectators.
More than 70% of companies said that canceling or postponing the Games will have little impact on their profits.
The survey, which covered more than 11,000 companies, according to Reuters, was conducted before Tokyo 2020 Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori’s resignation on Friday over sexist comments.
At the beginning of 2021, a survey by the Kyodo news agency showed that 80% of Japanese wanted to postpone or cancel the Games.
Many even believe that if the Games are held they could be held without foreign spectators. Japan is struggling to contain the coronavirus and lags behind Western countries in rolling out vaccines.
Many interested in becoming accredited seem to abandon the idea more than out of fear of contagion, because they will find very strange Games, nothing to do with the Olympic tradition, for athletes, press and spectators alike.
There will be prohibitions on entering public transport, shops, bars, restaurants. No shouts of joy in the stadiums, no hugs, no greetings, in short some surreal games. The Olympic family received the first anti-Covid guidelines for Tokyo last week. For example, athletes competing in the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be asked to take tests for the new coronavirus at least once every four days.
Those with a temperature of 37.5 C or higher will not be allowed to enter, while their activity areas and where they can eat will be restricted to places such as the Olympic Village and competition venues. The usual modus vivendi of the athletes in the Olympic Village will seem like a thing of the past and the image of autographs and selfies with the public could be missed. Meanwhile, Cuban athletes are waiting for the pre-Olympic tournaments, the vast majority of which have been postponed since 2020, and apparently they will try to leave the Island in advance to secure training bases in Europe or Asia, if the Games ultimately take place. They are not suspended.