British Olympic chief ‘as confident as I can be’ that Tokyo Games will go ahead

A surge in Covid-19 cases in Japan is apparently unlikely to force another postponement of the event

The Tokyo Olympics have already been delayed from their original 2020 start date (AFP via Getty Images)

British Olympic Association (BOA) chairman Sir Hugh Robertson has said he is “as confident as I can be” that the re-scheduled Tokyo Games will take place this summer despite surging Covid-19 rates in Japan.

Former London 2012 chief executive Sir Keith Mills was the latest figure to cast doubt over the Games this week. He suggested it was “unlikely” that the event would be able to go ahead.

However, Robertson re-stated the BOA’s belief in Japan’s ability to stage a full-scale Games, saying: “Any talk of cancelation and postponement is not what we are hearing.”

READ MORE: London 2012 organiser says Tokyo Olympics ‘unlikely’ to go ahead

Robertson’s comments echo those of Team GB chef de mission Mark England, who told the PA news agency last week that his confidence in the Games going ahead on its original scale has remained “absolute from the outset”.

Further doubts arose earlier this month when Japan declared a state of emergency in the wider Tokyo region and two opinion polls suggested a large majority of the population believed the Games would be cancelled or postponed again.

However, both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Games organising committee say the prospect of another delay is not on the agenda, that they expect fans to be admitted to stadiums, and that a coronavirus vaccine may not be mandatory.

Robertson told BBC Radio 4: “Everybody is working on the basis that these Games will go ahead. There is no talk of cancellation or postponement.

“Everything that I’m hearing at the moment is that there is a total determination on behalf of the IOC, organising committee and NOCs around the world to stage these Games and our athletes unanimously want to go.

“So I am as confident as I possibly can be that these Games will go ahead.”

PA