The Tokyo Olympics could be cancelled in the next few hours

Three days before the inauguration, Thoshiro Muto, head of the organising committee, has just given a press conference in which he claims that the Tokyo Olympics could be cancelled at the last minute.

These statements follow the 72 cases of Coronavirus positives in the Olympic Village and after some major sponsors withdrew their advertising campaigns for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games last Monday.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games could be cancelled or postponed in the coming hours

Although the IOC insists that the Olympics are safe and will remain on schedule, Thoshiro Muto's words have been received with concern, as the former bureaucrat is notorious for not making empty statements.

"We cannot predict what will happen to the number of coronavirus cases. So we will continue discussions if there is an increase in cases".

The health situation in Japan was not the best a few weeks before the inauguration, but it is not yet known whether the infections among athletes and technicians in the Olympic village have been imported or have occurred on Japanese soil.

The first Covid-related sporting problem could occur on Thursday, the day before the inauguration, when the Japanese national football team is due to play against South Africa. The latter is still unsure whether it will be able to field 11 players because of those who have had to be isolated due to positive cases.

According to polls, two-thirds of Japanese doubt that the Olympics can be held safely in the face of the Coronavirus, which for example prompted Toyota to decide on Monday to disassociate its brand from the event by cancelling its advertising campaigns. This is a situation in which 60 other companies that have advertising contracts with the Olympics find themselves.