EDITORIAL: SG-The Straits Times says: Prudent to postpone Olympic Games
The Straits Times says:
Prudent to postpone Olympic Games
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After weeks of holding fast to the position that the Olympic Games that Japan is to host from July will proceed as planned, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has given the first hint that he is now willing to consider a postponement. Speaking in Parliament yesterday, he acknowledged that it may be impossible to stage the Games as scheduled. Just as well that he is coming round to accepting the inevitable – given the wide disruptions the world is undergoing as governments train their resources on tackling the Covid-19 pandemic. Realistically, there was no way the Games could have gone ahead as planned, even if a vaccine is somehow developed, tested and accepted by the health authorities in the next few weeks.
A cancellation would be a pity no doubt. But the Games do not belong to one nation but to all. The world, coming off a year of rising geopolitical tensions, could have well used a celebration of excellence and fair competition. For Japan, it would have been a swansong for Mr Abe, its longest serving post-war premier; and with a new emperor enthroned last October, it would have been an opportunity to showcase the country entering the new era as a modern, increasingly open society that maintains its multilateral instincts and which is slowly shedding its ethnocentric impulses. It is not an accident that until January, mainland Chinese, raised to look on Japan with dread, were its most enthusiastic tourist arrivals.
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Yet, the inevitable decision must be taken. With most airlines grounded, nations putting up travel and visitor restrictions, and public facilities under lockdown, it is increasingly clear that athletes and organisers are under impossible pressure. While the Games are a competition, they are equally a spectacle and it would have been meaningless to hold them at empty or partially filled stadiums. Health is paramount and the Games are, after all, ultimately a celebration of fitness. Besides, the Olympic committees in Brazil, Norway and the Netherlands have called for postponements in recent days. Canada has taken the first real step in announcing that it will not send its athletes. Under the circumstances, a delay is the best option.
Ottawa has made the right call and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) must read the writing on the wall. Japan would suffer inconvenience but no loss of face – it is a victim of the virus, like every other country. Spectators aside, the blow falls hardest on athletes who will lose out on cherished accolades. But a postponement will help. Many may not be at their peak given that the virus has curtailed opportunities for training, conditioning and contests. And given the likelihood of boycotts should the Games proceed, sporting honours will have lesser meaning if they were not earned against a full field. Mr Abe repeatedly said he wants “complete” Games. He, and the IOC, could still have their wish – only not just now.
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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 24, 2020, with the headline ‘Prudent to postpone Olympic Games’. Print Edition | Subscribe
