IOC President Thomas Bach has said the Games would have to be scrapped if the event cannot be held next year but Takahashi said cancelling them would have major financial implications.
Whether the beleaguered Tokyo Olympics begin as planned this July could come down to support from the United States and its new president, the Wall Street Journal quoted Tokyo Organising Committee member Haruyuki Takahashi as saying in an interview.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday called for sports and cultural events to be scrapped or curtailed for two weeks as the country battles to stem coronavirus contagion amid mounting concerns the 2020 Tokyo Olympics could be cancelled. Abe's call came after a Tokyo baseball team said it would play games in an empty stadium this weekend, while two businesses in central Tokyo reported confirmed cases of infection a day after the government urged companies to recommend staff consider working from home.
Japan is eager to quell fears the Games might be called off, postponed or moved to a different location due to the virus. And despite its optimism over the Olympics, Japan has cancelled numerous sporting events.
Japan today imports 500,000 tons of coffee annually. Barely 60 years earlier, it was a market that hardly sold a cup! Ad guru Sandeep Goyal reveals how Nestle won the Coffee versus Tea Battle.
Five months before the Olympics opening ceremony in Tokyo, health authorities around the world are scrambling to contain outbreaks of the flu-like virus which has infected about 80,000 and killed more than 2,700 people, the vast majority in China.