TOKYO: Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizers said Thursday the Games would “go ahead as planned,” slamming misinformation over the new coronavirus for triggering panic.
Chief executive officer Toshiro Muto revealed that organizers have set up a task force to combat the fast-spreading disease that has killed over 560 people and infected at least 28,000 — the vast majority in mainland China — but promised that the Games would be not derailed.
“The Olympics will go ahead as planned,” he told reporters after a Paralympic project review.
“It is important to remain objective and cool-headed. We don’t want to alarm the public. The infection is still limited and there is no problem staging the Olympics based on the current situation.”
International Paralympic Committee (IPC) spokesman Craig Spence complained that scaremongering had created an “info-demic” that could skew public perception in the run-up to the Olympics and Paralympics.
“Fear is spreading quicker than the virus,” he said. “It’s important we quell that fear. Only 191 of the total cases are outside mainland China, so let’s put things into perspective.
“If you compare those rates with the common flu, they are still relatively small numbers,” added Spence.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) has not declared this a pandemic. We dealt with the Zika virus in Rio and in these matters we need to rely on the experts.
“We will follow the advice of the World Health Organization. Every organizing committee looks into countermeasures, and we have measures in place from previous Olympics and Paralympics here in Tokyo. It is standard practice, it’s business as usual.”
More than 20 countries have confirmed cases of the flu-like coronavirus.
Japan has had no reported deaths so far, but 45 cases have been detected, including at least 20 people on a cruise ship carrying more than 3,700 passengers and crew quarantined off Yokohama.
The WHO has declared the outbreak a global health emergency.
Japan has warned citizens against non-essential travel to China and fast-tracked new rules including limits on entering the country as it tries to contain the spread of the virus.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday pledged that preparations for the Olympics would proceed as normal.
“The coronavirus is beginning to have an impact on tourism,” he said. “But the government will continue to steadily prepare for the Games in close cooperation with the IOC (International Olympic Committee), the local organizing committee and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.”
The Japanese government has chartered three flights to repatriate 565 Japanese nationals from Wuhan, the central Chinese city hardest hit by the virus.
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike promised at the weekend to implement “thorough measures” to protect people from the virus.
The health scare has led to the cancelation of Olympic qualifying events in China such as boxing and badminton.
The Tokyo Olympics begin on July 24 with the Paralympics starting on August 25.
‘Olympics will go ahead’: Tokyo organizers slam virus rumors
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‘Olympics will go ahead’: Tokyo organizers slam virus rumors
- Chief executive officer Toshiro Muto revealed that organizers have set up a task force to combat the fast-spreading disease
- “The Olympics will go ahead as planned,” he told reporters after a Paralympic project review
Set to go: Two weeks of tennis mania Down Under ahead of the Australian Open
- Leading the way is the United Cup, a mixed teams event which will be played in Perth and Sydney beginning Friday and finishing Jan. 11
- Also during the first full week of 2026, the Brisbane International will be headlined by defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, fresh off the Battle of the Sexes exhibition against Nick Kyrgios in Dubai
BRISBANE: If it’s a new year, it must be serious tennis time Down Under.
Just over six weeks since the ATP and WTA held their respective 2025 Finals, players on the men’s and women’s tours are arriving in Australia and New Zealand for a crammed two-week schedule of tournaments ahead of the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam event starting Jan. 18 in Melbourne.
Leading the way is the United Cup, a mixed teams event which will be played in Perth and Sydney beginning Friday and finishing Jan. 11. The tournament will feature four of the world’s top 10 men and women including Coco Gauff, Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Iga Świątek, Alexander Zverev, Jasmine Paolini and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Also during the first full week of 2026, the Brisbane International will be headlined by defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, fresh off the Battle of the Sexes exhibition against Nick Kyrgios in Dubai.
But missing from the pre-Australian Open tournaments are the two biggest names in men’s tennis: No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and second-ranked Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz and Sinner — who have won nine of the last 10 Grand Slam singles titles, with Sinner winning the 2025 Australian Open — have decided to play an exhibition at Incheon, South Korea on Jan. 10. After the exhibition, it’s expected they’ll fly to Australia to begin their preparations at Melbourne Park.
Alcaraz will be playing his first major in seven years without coach Juan Carlos Ferrero — the Spanish player recently announced their split. Alcaraz has not announced a replacement.
Other players at the United Cup, which begins Friday with Greece taking on Japan in Perth, include Emma Raducanu, Naomi Osaka, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Stan Wawrinka, who has said 2026 will be his last year on tour.
The 40-year-old, three-time major winner Wawrinka says he hopes to improve on his current ranking of 157 and move back into the top 100 before he retires. His highest ranking was No. 3, achieved when he won the Australian Open in 2014.
“I’m happy with the decision (to retire) and feeling at peace with that,” Wawrinka said when he arrived earlier this week in Perth.
Joining Sabalenka at the 500-level Brisbane International will be two-time major finalist Amanda Anisimova, WTA Finals champion Elena Rybakina, reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva.
The 18-year-old Andreeva is tipped to be the next big thing in women’s tennis and she could renew her rivalry with Sabalenka in Brisbane. Sabalenka leads 4-2 in the head-to-head matches but world No. 9 Andreeva had a three-set win in the Indian Wells final in 2025.
The Russian also made it to the quarterfinals at last year’s French Open and Wimbledon along with the semis at Roland Garros in 2024 when at 17 she became the youngest to reach the final four in a major since Martina Hingis at the 1997 US Open.
“Maybe the rivalry (with Sabalenka) is a little bit there but she is leading ... unfortunately ... for now,” Andreeva told Australian Associated Press this week.
Andreeva lost to Sabalenka in the semifinals in Brisbane in 2025 and again in the fourth round at the Australian Open before her victory at Indian Wells where she was the youngest winner since Serena Williams.
“That gave me a lot of confidence. Winning Indian Wells is a milestone of my career so far,” she said.
In the second week of the warm-up events, the joint ATP- WTA Adelaide International featuring 24-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic will run from Jan. 12-17 as well as a WTA 250 tournament at Hobart, Australia.
Auckland, New Zealand will host a WTA tournament from Jan. 5-11 before the ATP plays at the same venue from Jan. 12-17. Kyrgios and Frances Tiafoe are scheduled to play in an exhibition tournament at Kooyong in Melbourne several days before the Australian Open begins.
And in the only warm-up tournament being played outside Australia or New Zealand, Hong Kong will host an ATP event from Jan. 5-11.
The ATP events will come under a new rule for 2026 to address extreme heat during men’s matches that will allow for 10-minute breaks during best-of-three-sets singles matches and is similar to what was put in place on the WTA more than 30 years ago.
