“We know that we will have to enter several hundred million dollars because of the postponement. That is why it is also necessary to examine and review all the services provided,” said German Thomas Bach, in an open letter sent to the Olympic movement.
Because of the outbreak of the new coronavirus, the Tokyo2020 Olympic Games, initially scheduled to run between July 24 and August 9, have been postponed to 2021 and are now scheduled between July 23 and August 8 of that year.
“We will continue to bear part of the operational load and part of the costs of these Olympic Games, as agreed with our Japanese partners and friends,” said the IOC president.
According to the latest budget released, the IOC has about 1 billion euros available to deal with a possible cancellation of the Tokyo Games, a hypothesis that was raised on Tuesday by the chairman of the Organizing Committee, Yoshiro Mori, in case the pandemic of the covid-19 is not controlled at that time.
“The priority is to create a safe environment in terms of health for all participants. The IOC is following the advice of the World Health Organization on possible adaptations to mass sports. But we are also aware that no one knows what the reality of the world after the coronavirus “, confessed Bach.
Globally, according to a report by the AFP news agency, the covid-19 pandemic has already killed more than 215,000 people and infected more than three million people in 193 countries and territories.
More than 840,000 patients were considered cured.
In Portugal, 948 people out of 24,322 confirmed to have died, and there are 1,389 recovered cases, according to the Directorate-General for Health.
The disease is transmitted by a new coronavirus detected in late December in Wuhan, a city in central China.
