By Enefiok Udo-Obong
Team Nigeria unceremoniously have departed for Tokyo, Japan in batches for the Olympic Gomes. The team which a lot of people agree may be our most talented in a long time had camped in Abuja amid uncertainty. Uncertainty caused by a spreading virus.
The Olympics originally scheduled to hold in 2020 was postponed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was hoped that within that year the virus would have been better understood, contained and vaccines would have been widely administered. So the world put forward the celebrations of the greatest sport show by a year in hope.
However, things have not been going as expected. While Africa seemed to get the low end of the pandemic for various reasons, the West finally started getting a vaccination programme rolling but Asia, especially South Eastern Asia where japan is, has been having it rough recently with the virus.
Across the region, clusters have been found in places where defences are weakest: hospitals, quarantine facilities and border crossings. Lapses in those places allowed infections to spread more widely. Moreover, the virus has mutated over the past year, and the variants spreading now are more transmissible. That includes b.1.617 (The Delta variant), first identified in India, which has appeared in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Japan
And with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Japan, the fans started protesting against the Summer Games. The Japanese Government announced a state of emergency in the country. The fans carried banners on the streets of Tokyo. In fact, when IOC chief, Thomas Bach arrived in Tokyo ahead of the Summer Games, he was welcomed with #BachGoHome.
The slogans also read, “‘Go back IOC’ & ‘No Olympic 2020.” The fans are against the idea of hosting the games at this juncture. Especially when only 15 percent of the population has been vaccinated. Also, Japan recorded over 920 cases on July 7, 2021. This was a record high number since mid-May. The fans are urging the Government to keep public safety in mind before conducting the games there. The Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga even mentioned that more cases of the Delta variants have been detected within the country.
The India Todaynewspaper reports that the protesters are worried that with so many people coming in from different parts of the world, it will increase the risk of spreading the virus further. In fact, they are scared of some of the most contagious variants that might spread in the country. Moreover, the amount of money that is being allocated to a sporting event when people are suffering around the world can be used for healthcare or Covid-relief funds in the country.
The Japanese Government is really handicapped here. The Host City contract signed really does not empower them to unilaterally cancel the Games. The IOC has to have the say there. And they are determined to make the Games go on. The Government has since announced a ban on international fans coming to watch the Games. It was a measure taken to try and control the spread of the coronavirus. Other measures include not more than 10,000 spectators and venues only to be at 50% capacity max. Also competition bubbles were to be created for the athletes to prevent interaction with locals. This was in addition to compulsory vaccination and frequent testing.
However, Olympics Minister, Tamayo Marukawa confirmed that fans will be banned from all Olympic venues in Japanese capital Tokyo in response to the new coronavirus state of emergency.
Organisers had planned to allow 10,000 fans or 50 per cent of a venue’s capacity, but this was under the assumption that Tokyo would not even be under a quasi-state of emergency, and they have performed a U-turn following the announcement that Tokyo will be under a state of emergency for the duration of the Games.
This is coming amid a fresh spike in COVID-19 infections in Tokyo and on the day International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, Thomas Bach arrived in the city.
Tokyo’s state of emergency is provisionally set to end on August 22 – two weeks after the conclusion of the Olympics and two days before the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympics.
This new policy was agreed on at a meeting attended by Bach and representatives from the IOC, the International Paralympic Committee, Tokyo 2020, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Japanese Government.
The decision to ban spectators comes as Japan lags behind Western countries in rolling out vaccines. Only 15% of its population are fully vaccinated, compared to 47% in the United States and nearly 50% in the UK, according to CNN’s global vaccine tracker. Japan has recorded at least 814,315 cases and 14,865 deaths due to coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic as of the first week of July.
Already North Korea has pulled out of the Games citing COVID risks, and there were calls in Australia to skip the Games. About 10,000 of the 80,000 volunteers who had stepped forward to help with next month’s Tokyo Olympics have quit the Games organization.
The White House reaffirmed its support for US athletes traveling to Tokyo. “The President supports the Tokyo Olympic Games and the public health measures necessary to protect athletes, staff, and spectators. He has pride in the US athletes who have trained for Tokyo Games and will be competing in the best traditions of the Olympic spirit,” White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki told reporters.
So while the virus rages on, the human quest for power and superiority over one another would go on. There would be stiff competition. Sporting battles would happen. There would be mixed emotions of joy, ecstasy and anguish but there would big a big absence of the razzmatazz, the glitz and the glamour that usually comes with the Olympic Games. It’s going to be taking place in empty, hollow arenas. But despite the delays and the obstacles, the Games Must Go On! (Additional information from Insidethegames.biz)
