International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach cancels a trip to Japan because of surging cases of COVID-19 in the country.
FILE - In this April 28, 2021, file photo, IOC President Thomas Bach, on a screen, waves to Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee President Seiko Hashimoto at the start of a five-party meeting of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Bach has canceled a trip in May 2021 to Japan because of surging cases of COVID-19 in the country, the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said Monday, May 10, 2021 in a statement.
The trip was made impossible because of a state of emergency in Tokyo and other parts of the country that has been extended until May 31. The state of emergency was to have ended on Tuesday.The postponement is an embarrassment to the IOC and local organizers with the Olympics opening in just over 10 weeks. Organizers and the IOC have repeatedly said the Olympics will not be canceled, and will be “safe and secure.
An online petition calling for the games to be canceled gained 300,000 signatures in three days, although a small protest against the Olympics on Sunday in Tokyo drew only 100 people.“Of course I would say I want the Olympics to happen, because I’m an athlete and that’s sort of what I’ve been waiting for my entire life,” she said Sunday at the Italian Open.
Other voices are also rising up against the Olympics. On Monday, the leader of Japan’s main opposition party said it was not possible to safely hold the games.
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