Playing fairly

Should the Olympics in July in Tokyo go ahead as planned? This is a question that is doing the rounds all through the sporting world, and especially in Japan. The public in Japan, with one survey showing that 70 percent of the Japanese oppose the games, are angry that they could be put at risk when thousands of athletes and officials as well as media persons descend on the Japanese capital. While spectators from other countries have been banned, already changing the entire ethos and atmosphere of the games, the presence of a very large number of athletes means the coronavirus could further devastate Japan at a time when hospitals in its capital city and in other parts of the country are already full. The head of a doctors’ union in the country has warned that the games should not go ahead in this situation.

We then have a dilemma. On the one hand, hundreds and possibly thousands of athletes have prepared hard in difficult circumstances for an opportunity that may never come again. The Olympics offer a kind of glory that is not available at any other sporting event. But at the same time, we must ask if life is more important than glory. Even if strict SOPs are followed, this would still mean athletes from various countries would mingle with each other in the Olympic Village, in dining areas, at venues, and at other common places. This could lead, a doctor says, to the emergence of an Olympic variant’ of the Coronavirus, adding to the risk the globe is already facing.

A lot of thinking is required. The key issue here is money. The sponsors of the games do not want to lose all they have invested with yet another delay in the games, which were originally to be held in 2020. But at the same time, we surely do not want the deaths of people or the emergence of new strains of a disease that the world is still struggling to contain. Japan has recently seen the effects of Covid-19 when it hit the country in full swing. They do not want any further risk of being hit by the virus. And the same is true for the rest of the world, with some US athletes already expressing apprehension about visiting Japan. In this situation, the Olympic Committee needs to decide what is to be done and how the games should be managed. Of course, we would like to see athletes get their chance at demonstrating their abilities. But this cannot come at the cost of devastation for the people of Japan or more problems for the world.