- Whenever the IOC holds the Games in 2021 there will be massive conflicts, but these are the Olympics so everyone fall into line
- The reboot will require the type of introspective and progressive thinking that neither the IOC nor Japan has exhibited lately
We all know about the litany of miscues and compromised agendas at the highest levels of governance that have greatly contributed to the world being on the brink of disaster. It's an indisputable truth and here is one more: yesterday is just that, it's done. The blame game is not moving us forward. We need a vision, we need some hope and no country has a better chance, and more of a need, than Japan.
Japanese and International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials finally came to their senses this week and postponed the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It was more a relief than a revelation. Amid a global pandemic, the Tokyo Organising Committee and the IOC stubbornly held to their belief that athletes from 206 countries and states would merrily waltz into Japan's National Stadium on July 24 for the opening of the Summer Games.
Frankly, their consternation was a distraction and like most of the virus recovery efforts globally, it was on the micro not the macro level where pivotal decisions were being forced. Once Canada and Australia announced they would not send a team because of the health risks posed by Covid-19, it put an official exclamation mark on the growing choir of dissent from international sporting bodies.
Japanese and IOC officials had no choice " the decision was made for them, not by them. In four weeks they will announce a date and a plan to, hopefully, proceed next year. But for now, they can both get lost. The planet is dealing with some dire and deadly serious issues; we don't need them in the way. Huddle up and do your thing.
Hopefully, the world will be in a more receptive mood one year from now and Japan and the IOC can re-establish some relevance in the Olympics. Along the way, they can also seize the opportunity to play a pivotal role in offering hope and promise for the near future. It will require the type of introspective and progressive thinking that neither has exhibited lately. But hope is hope, you take it where you can get it these days.
The Olympic reboot should come with a measure of global goodwill and offer organisers a rare chance to deal with issues that were set to be major headaches " none more onerous than Tokyo's deadly summer heat. Organisers can simply eliminate that problem by holding the Games in May or early June. There is a such a logjam of cancelled sporting, entertainment and cultural events, that whenever you hold the Games in 2021 there will be massive conflicts. So why not just pick your season?
Coronavirus damage to Japan's economy outweighs Olympic Games delay
The world's backlogged schedule will need at least a few years to sort itself out anyway and you are the Olympic Games, let them work around you. If the NBA says they can't send the best basketball players in the world in May because of their play-offs, it's their problem, not yours. You are basically relaunching humanity, if they want to be seen to be turning their backs, then they aren't worth a damn anyhow. Besides, the NHL has routinely shut down for close to a month to play in the Winter Olympics so anything is possible.
Naturally, there will be complaints about how the summer is peak tourist season. And while that is true, Tokyo was set to explode this summer with a daily influx of 10 million people into the largest city in the world. Hotel rooms were so scarce that organisers planned to house the overflow on a number of cruise ships in Tokyo bay.
But the world watched in horror as Japanese officials largely turned their backs on the virus-ridden Diamond Princess cruise ship in nearby Yokohama harbour last month. You really think anyone will agree to be housed on a boat during the Games? Holding them in May will almost surely guarantee more rooms, as well as more tickets, and precipitate a necessary shrinkage in the scope of the Games.
Tokyo 2020: athletes and officials laud 'right decision' to delay Olympics
The IOC might also hear from some of its sponsors over the schedule changes. But let's have names, who is not on board? If anything you would think that more corporations would be lining up.
This could be one of the most festive moments of our lifetime, a global catharsis of epic proportions. All it takes is a bit of vision and a lot of resolve. The desire should be there globally on the micro level. The question is, will it be there on the macro level?
Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
