With less than 50 days to go for the Olympics, the fate of the greatest sporting event on earth is hanging in the balance as Japan, the organising country continues to be ravaged by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. With the health emergency extended up to June 20 and the vaccination drive able to cover only five per cent of the populace thus far, the clamour for either postponing or cancelling the Olympics is getting louder. In a recent survey, 83 per cent of the respondents voiced in favour of postponing the games, which is a steep rise from the figures in April, when 69 per cent of the respondents expressed similar views. Further, the Associations of Physicians has warned organisers that the gala event may turn into a super spreader as thousands of athletes, officials, media personnel and sports lovers will land in Tokyo either to participate or witness the biggest sporting event of the world, which in all probability will lead the densely-populated country into a catastrophe.
The Tokyo Olympic Games were slated to be held in 2020 but due to the Covid-19 situation, it was postponed by a year. Even after a year, uncertainty looms large over the fate of the games. Barring the World War years, the modern era Olympic Games had always been held on schedule and successfully conducted. Since the beginning of modern Olympics in 1896, it has been postponed only thrice. The first time the game was cancelled in 1916 was due to the First World War. Again in 1940 and 1944, the games could not be organised because of the Second World War. Since 1948, the games have been successfully organised without any interruption after every four years with glamour, grandeur and gaiety.
If the Olympic Games are cancelled, many of the present day athletes will not be able to exhibit their talents in front of the world. It should be remembered that during the intervening years, the athletes have prepared themselves rigorously to showcase their talents to the world. This will certainly work as one of the main causes for not cancelling the games. Secondly, the cancellation decision will incur a huge financial loss. The Olympic Games is the main source of income for the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Thanks to the Olympics, IOC now has a cash reserve of $ 1billion. It will be dented if the games are postponed. At the same time, the Japanese Government has already spent $ 15.4 billion preparing the necessary infrastructure for the Olympic Games. The entire amount will be lost if the games are cancelled. In such a situation, the decision regarding organising or cancelling the games should be taken after weighing all the issues carefully. The amount of monetary loss is extraordinary but at the same time, human lives are paramount and under no circumstances should lives be put at risk. It is indeed a difficult choice to make.
