Tokyo Olympics are now ‘UNLIKELY’ to happen, says the man who ran London 2012

Tokyo 2020 is now ‘unlikely’ to happen as the Covid pandemic continues to rage across the world, claims the man behind the London Olympics.

Last year’s Olympic Games have already been put back by 12 months to this summer due to the outbreak of the virus in 2020.

And fears that it could be cancelled altogether have been raised by Sir Keith Mills, who warned on BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘Personally, sitting here looking at the pandemic around the world in South America, in North America and Africa and across Europe it looks unlikely I have to say.

Fresh doubt has been poured over Tokyo 2020 by the organiser of the London Olympics 

Sir Keith Mills believes the sporting showpiece is ‘unlikely’ to happen this year

‘I think if I was sitting in the shoes of the organising committee in Tokyo, I would be making plans for a cancellation. 

‘I think they will leave it until absolutely the last minute in case the situation improves dramatically, in case the vaccinations roll out faster than we all hoped.

‘It’s a tough call. I wouldn’t like to be in their shoes.’

Last week a Japanese cabinet minister said that the delayed Games may not go ahead – although the organising committee have insisted that the idea of postponing again has never been discussed. 

‘We need to do the best we can to prepare for the Games at this moment, but it could go either way,’ Taro Kono, administrative and regulatory reform minister, said in an interview at the Reuters Next conference.

Last year’s Games have already been put back by 12 months due to the Covid pandemic

A global COVID-19 resurgence, including record infection levels in Japan, has raised fresh doubts about the Games. 

The government last Wednesday expanded its state of emergency well beyond the Tokyo region.

The Japanese public’s appetite for the sporting extravaganza has waned, with 77 per cent of respondents in a survey last week saying it should be cancelled or postponed.   

However, Masa Takaya, a spokesperson for Tokyo 2020, said the prospect of doing so again had not even been mentioned.

‘To be very clear, we have never discussed another postponement of the Games,’ Takaya told Sky Sports.

Taro Kono, administrative and regulatory reform minister, says the decision may go either way 

Tokyo 2020 is slated to get underway at the Japan National Stadium on July 23 later this year

‘We have 100 per cent concentration and focus on the delivery of a safe and secure Games this summer.

‘The Covid situation is of course still an ongoing issue for everyone in the world but we will deliver the Games this year, starting July 23.’

The Games – and the tourism dollars they bring – are also a top priority for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Suga and others have said repeatedly the decision whether to go ahead rests with the International Olympic Committee and that their agreement to continue preparations stands.

‘Anything is possible, but as the host of the Games we need to do whatever we can, so that when it’s a Go, we can have a good Olympic Games,’ Kono said. 

‘The Olympic Committee must be thinking about Plan B, Plan C. But the situation is not easy.’