The last time the Olympics didn’t take place at its scheduled time was way back in 1944. Apart from this, 1940 and 1916 are also the years when the mega event couldn’t take place. The reasons behind all three cancellations were the two world wars.
The news that Tokyo 2020 has been pushed back to 2021 has not only shocked a billion sports fans around the globe but most importantly points towards the fact that how big the COVID-19 crisis is. In my opinion, it is the biggest crisis that mankind has ever seen in recent times. It has brought almost everything on the planet to a virtual halt and definitely pushed us a few years back. However in this article I won’t be talking about the other repercussions of the Coronavirus but will keep myself confined to Tokyo Olympics 2020.
The fact that the Olympics can’t take place at its scheduled time brings us to two important questions. One, Why is the Olympics at its scheduled time not possible? And two, what will be consequences of a delayed Olympics?
The answer to why Olympics can’t take place at its scheduled time can be broken down in parts.
1. The Pandemic has reached to an extent wherein nothing can take place. Many countries have declared complete lockdowns and there is a virtual halt all over the world. Not only Olympics but almost all the sporting events around the globe have been either cancelled or postponed to a later date.
In such a situation of global crisis it becomes important to look after the players’ health more than anything else. It is important to understand that under the current circumstances the athletes might not be both mentally and physically prepared for the games and conducting the games at this moment can hamper the players’ health and they will not be able to perform at their fullest.
The event involves around 10,000 athletes and millions of spectators, volunteers and coaching staff who will come in contact with each other that could trigger infection. People will travel from all over the world to see their favourite players perform .The number of those infected can increase manifold and can lead to a rapid increase of death toll globally. The situation can get out of control and the event can turn out to be a disaster and a global super spreader for the deadly virus.
2. The Olympics qualifications have not really taken place. Most of the qualifications takes place just a few months before the actual event. The qualification process was yet to be conducted for maximum events. Athletes who have already booked their place in Olympics just have another year to train as their seats are reserved for the postponed event too while a years’ time will help the sporting fraternity prepare a perfect build for the event.
3. The Volunteers play a crucial role in any event. It has been found that there are more than 80,000 volunteers who would be helping the authorities in making the Tokyo event a successful one. These volunteers are properly trained and are given specified works to do during the course of the event. However, due to the outbreak of the virus, the training of these people has also been postponed and without a properly trained workforce it is almost impossible to conduct an event of this scale.
These small things pile up to become a big problem. These are some facts that tell us that we are not ready to have an Olympic at this stage and it is better to postpone the event a year further.
The second question is what will be the consequences of the postponement of the Olympics? Let us answer this in points.
1. The economic impact is a giant one. Japan has reportedly spent over $12 billion for the game which is almost double of the budget that they had estimated earlier. There is a huge amount of money at stake for the broadcasters and sponsors. The Hotel and Restaurant business is believed to be worst affected. The broadcasters will have a tough time next year as the mega event may clash with some or the other event scheduled for next year.
2. The athletes may have a hot and cold response to the postponement. On one hand, they might be relieved that they will not face any risk of COVID-19. But on the other hand, they have trained hard and would be disappointed not to showcase their talent at a global level.
3. The postponement will lead to renegotiation of contracts. Every stakeholder be it sponsors or the local business will be affected by the same. Everything needs to be rearranged and if there is some or other kind of failure in the renegotiation process, this might lead to a big legal procedure.
4. The fans whether travelling or not, will be a lot disappointed. Each and every sports enthusiast had an eye on 24th July of this year. They were ready to see their favourites perform. They were ready to see their nation win Olympic medals. Sadly, they need to wait for another year.
The new dates have been announced. The Olympics in 2021 will continue to be known as Tokyo 2020. The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place on 23rd July, 2021. The Olympic Flame has reached Tokyo and will stay in Tokyo. Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister has welcomed the decision and will surely hope that 2021 will be kind to them. As a sports fan, it will be a wait of another year for the biggest event in the sporting circuit to take place and I hope it will be bigger than ever. For the time being, stay at home, stay safe.
- Kshitij
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