PARIS: Pressure mounted on Olympic organizers to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Games on Saturday after the powerful US track and field federation urged this summer’s event be pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.
USA Track and Field became the latest influential sports body to ask for the Games to be called off after its head Max Siegel “respectfully requested” in a letter that the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) “advocate ... for the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.”
USOPC had said it was too soon to axe the July 24-August 9 Games, much like International Olympic Committee (IOC) head Thomas Bach, who said that it would be “premature” to make such a big decision.
“The right and responsible thing to do is to prioritize everyone’s health and safety and appropriately recognize the toll this difficult situation has, and continues to take, on our athletes and their Olympic Games preparations,” wrote Siegel.
USATF joined a growing chorus of calls from sports organizations to push back the Olympics, a day after the country’s swimming federation asked USOPC to back a postponement until 2021.
“We urge the USOPC, as a leader within the Olympic Movement, to use its voice and speak up for the athletes,” USA Swimming CEO Tim Hinchey said in a letter.
That request for a delay was echoed on Saturday by France’s swimming federation which said that the Games could not be organized properly in the “current context.”
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe told AFP Saturday that the sporting world was in “uncharted territory.”
“We have another meeting early next week to discuss the work, given the number of athletes who are struggling to train in various countries due to measures put in place to reduce the spread of the coronavirus,” said Coe.
“I don’t think we should have the Olympic Games at all costs, certainly not at the cost of athlete safety and a decision on the Olympic Games may become very obvious very quickly in the coming days and weeks.
“The issue of competition fairness is paramount. We are all managing the situation day by day and increasingly hour by hour.”
The Norwegian Olympic Committee (NOC) quickly followed, saying that it had sent a letter to the IOC on Friday, motivated in part by a Norwegian government ban on organized sports activities which had created “a very challenging time for the sports movement in Norway.”
“Our clear recommendation is that the Olympic Games in Tokyo shall not take place before the COVID-19 situation is under firm control on a global scale,” the NOC said in the letter.
The new chairman of the United Kingdom’s athletics governing body also questioned the need to hold the Olympics this summer given the uncertainty surrounding the spread of COVID-19, which has now killed over 12,000 people worldwide according to an AFP tally.
“To leave it where it is is creating so much pressure in the system. It now has to be addressed,” head of UK Athletics Nic Coward told the BBC.
On Friday, Bach defended the IOC’s refusal to cancel the Olympics by saying that the Games were further away than other shelved events, such as football’s European Championship which was due to start in mid-June and has been moved to 2021.
“We are four-and-a-half months away from the Games,” Bach told the New York Times.
“For us, (postponement) would not be responsible now.”
Athletes lashed out at IOC advice to continue training “as best they can,” with Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi accusing the body of “putting us in danger.”
“The IOC wants us to keep risking our health, our family’s health and public health to train every day?” asked Stefanidi.
World champion fencer Race Imboden of the United States said on Twitter that he was “worried” about the prospect of the Olympics going ahead.
“We keep being told the Olympic Games are happening. Starting to realize it’s more important to have the games go on than the athletes be prepared or mentally healthy.”
But USOPC chairwoman Susanne Lyons insisted on Friday that organizers had time on their side.
“We don’t have to make a decision. Our games are not next week, or two weeks from now. They’re four months from now,” Lyons said.
Mounting Tokyo 2020 postponement calls put pressure on defiant Olympic chiefs
https://arab.news/wd58m
Mounting Tokyo 2020 postponement calls put pressure on defiant Olympic chiefs
- Athletes lashed out at the International Olympic Committee's advice to continue training “as best they can”
- IOC head Thomas Bach had said it would be “premature” to cancel the Games
Pakistan will boycott T20 World Cup match against India. ICC says decision will damage cricket
- No reason was given for Pakistan boycotting the game against India, but Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi had criticized governing body ICC for “double standards” by refusing to shift Bangladesh’s games to Sri Lanka
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government says the national cricket team will be allowed to take part in the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup but must boycott its group game against arch rival India.
India and Sri Lanka are co-hosts for the 20-team tournament, which starts Saturday.
Pakistan will play all its games in Sri Lanka — including any in the knockout stage — because of political tensions with India. The two teams are scheduled to meet in a Group A game in Colombo on Feb. 15 in what is often a tournament highlight for fans, broadcasters and organizers alike.
That’s looking in doubt this time.
“The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan grants approval to the Pakistan Cricket Team to participate in the ICC World T20 2026,” the government posted Sunday on its official X account. “However, the Pakistan Cricket Team shall not take the field in the match scheduled on 15th February 2026 against India.”
No reason was given for Pakistan boycotting the game against India, but Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi had criticized governing body ICC for “double standards” by refusing to shift Bangladesh’s games to Sri Lanka. Bangladesh was replaced by Scotland for the tournament.
Naqvi was vocal in Pakistan’s support for Bangladesh and left the decision of Pakistan’s participation in the T20 World Cup to the government when he briefed Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, on the issue.
ICC criticizes decision
The International Cricket Council said in a statement that it was waiting to receive an official communication from the PCB over the planned boycott, while warning against harming “the spirit and sanctity” of the global events.
“This position of selective participation is difficult to reconcile with the fundamental premise of a global sporting event where all qualified teams are expected to compete on equal terms per the event schedule,” the ICC said.
“While the ICC respects the roles of governments in matters of national policy, this decision is not in the interest of the global game or the welfare of fans worldwide, including millions in Pakistan.”
The ICC said its priority is to successfully organize the T20 World Cup and “expects the PCB to explore a mutually acceptable resolution, which protects the interests of all stakeholders.”
The ICC also said it “hopes that the PCB will consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, which it is itself a member and beneficiary of.”
Pakistan’s first match is against the Netherlands on Saturday in the tournament opener in Colombo. It will then take on the US on Feb. 10 and Namibia on Feb. 18.
India would be set to receive two points if Pakistan forfeits their game.
A Pakistan vs. India tournament game attracts huge interest and is a significant source of income, through broadcasters and sponsors, for the ICC.
Pakistan and India have not played a bilateral cricket series for the last 14 years, but both nations have regularly been in the same group at ICC tournaments.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, who led the team to a 3-0 win in the three-match T20 series against Australia on Sunday in Lahore, said he will follow his government’s instructions.
“It’s (boycotting game against India) not our decision, we can’t do anything about it,” Agha said. “We will do whatever our government and the (PCB) chairman say.”
The strained political relations between the two countries spilled onto the cricket field last year when India’s players refused to shake hands with Pakistan’s players during three Asia Cup games, including the final, in the United Arab Emirates.
