Pressure is growing on organizers to cancel the Tokyo Olympics as Japan struggles to contain a fourth wave of COVID-19 cases. The games, which were delayed by a year due to the pandemic, are scheduled to begin July 23 even though less than 3 percent of the Japanese population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, one of the lowest rates in the developed world.
Jules Boykoff, author and former Olympic athlete who played for the U.S. Olympic soccer team, says the extremely lopsided contracts the International Olympic Committee signs with host countries give the body ultimate authority over whether or not to cancel the event. More than 80 percent of the people in Japan oppose hosting the Olympics this summer, and yet the IOC insists on pressing ahead, says Boykoff. Democracy Now! also speaks with Satoko Itani, professor of sport, gender and sexuality studies at Kansai University, who says there is growing public anger at the government and a sense of unfairness that the
No Tokyo Olympics: As COVID Spikes in Japan, Calls Grow to Cancel Games, IOC Refuses
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No Tokyo Olympics: As COVID Spikes in Japan, Calls Grow to Cancel Games IOC Refuses Who Profits?
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From the perspective of the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government, the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo are simply too big to fail. Yet failure is still very much on the table. With less than 100 days until the scheduled start, Covid-19 cases are on the rise across Japan. Anger about the Games is also on the rise in Japan, with “Cancelling Olympics” trending on Twitter there last week. One recent poll found that more than seven in 10 people in Japan do not want the Olympics to happen this summer, with 39 percent preferring outright cancellation and another 33 percent favoring further postponement.