Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without overseas spectators

I posted this in the "news" thread but then I read that "major" news should have its own thread. This seems "major."

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/...ed-at-start-of-tokyo-olympic-torch-relay.html

 

"The Tokyo Olympics Are in Trouble: once again:
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/tokyo-olympics-pandemic/
From the column:

With less than 100 days until the scheduled start, Covid-19 cases are on the rise across Japan. Anger about the Games is also on the rise in Japan, with “Cancelling Olympics” trending on Twitter there last week. One recent poll found that more than seven in 10 people in Japan do not want the Olympics to happen this summer, with 39 percent preferring outright cancellation and another 33 percent favoring further postponement.
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The news from Japan keeps getting worse and worse.
I still believe the politicians will win the battle and the Games will go on but I also suspect there is more to hear from the Japanese public and the politicians may well cave into public pressure.

I do wonder if there will be protests from the Japanese public during the Olympics or protests directed at the foreigners coming for the Games. There will be no overseas spectators but there are enough "other" people coming to make an attractive target for protests.

 

You just had to go there, didn't you? Good one.

 

Tokyo Under Third State of Emergency as COVID-19 Cases Rise in Japan Ahead of Olympics

I do not know for sure but I believe this is good news as it means that, at this point, Japan seems to be trying to get ahead of the situation.

My granddaughters tell me that Japanese TV is being blitzed by spots encouraging everyone to obey the dictates of the emergence order.

 

Well it looks like the schedule is not really friendly to TV watching. The group matches overlap a lot but I guess they are not really compressing the schedule more that usual for the Olympics. It is just another way FIFA and the Olympic Committee show that they consider the Olympic soccer as a second or third rate. They do not care at all if people world wide can actually watch all matches live. In the WC all matches, except the third round of group play, are played so they can be watched without interfering with watching other matches.

Tokyo Olympics: Women's soccer TV schedule, dates, live stream, how to watch, start times, scores, results

But, then again, I, and most other folks, can record all the matches and watch at our leisure. It will be about as good as having the matches scheduled so they don't overlap, if we can avoid seeing, hearing or otherwise being exposed to results.
Of course the announcers can, and probably will, spoil the results by announcing goals as they happen in other matches. Maybe I can find the matches broadcast in a language I do not understand and just look away hen the give "bonus" coverage.

I do wonder if the broadcasters will make the matches available delayed or if it will be the responsibility of the viewers to record and store the matches.

We do have some time to figure out what we need to do to see all the matches. Due to the timing here, in the US, most of us will watch delayed in some way. The matches all seem to start between 3:30 and 7:30 AM ET and that is a bit early, even for me.

I guess I could alter my schedule for the Games but, at my age, altering my schedule stresses my body more than it used to. I guess the various DVR functionalities I have access to will get a bit of a workout for the duration of the games.

 

Joint statement by the IOC, IPC, Tokyo 2020, Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Government of Japan

I wonder if these "games" will go down as the most restrictive games ever?
I also wonder if participating in the games is really worth the hassle?

My granddaughters have said that there was a "chance" they could have gone to some of the events since they have lived in Japan for several years and local people are allowed some limited attendance but they declined due to all the restrictions placed on the people that actually go to events. They understand the need for restrictions and limitations but they are choosing to not accept the invasive procedures.

The Olympic Games should be fun but nothing in the regulations seems even remotely like "fun."

 

I keep seeing news reports that tell me that Japan will hold the Olympics as rescheduled but the same articles keep saying the Japanese people are against it and the athletes will be placed in danger all for little more than a payday for a few big money people.

The Olympics are immovable for one reason only: money. Three-quarters of the IOC’s revenue comes from television rights alone, for two events – the summer and winter Games – held every four years. For the IOC, the threat of a multi-billion dollar black hole in its budget is too much to bear. Covid be damned.

I am more sure that the Olympics will be held that I have been for over a year and I am less sure I support the idea at all. I am coming to believe it is simply too dangerous, particularly for the athletes, for an event staged just for TV is worth the risk.

There is no real gain to holding the Olympics in current conditions but "money" does not care about the well being of any but themselves.

 

Tokyo Olympics: Why doesn't Japan cancel the Games?

I still think the games will proceed as scheduled but personally I am really beginning to doubt if there is any real value in taking the risks involved in holding even the bastardized games as planed in the current world situation.
We are just climbing out of the effects of the pandemic and, right as things are beginning to look better, we are going to risk re-energizing the many strains of the infection and give them a better way to spread worldwide.
All the planed precautions will NOT work because there are too many variables. Remember the virus is alive and, to quote a movie, "Life finds a way." And to further paraphrase the same movie, "The kind of control you are attempting is simply impossible."
While the world is making great strides toward getting all the virus strains under control it is NOT yet under control and it will not be under control before the scheduled start of the Olympics.

But, as I have said before, the money boys at the IOC will not let the games die this year if they still see the big bucks. so it is "Damn the virus, full speed ahead." (Again a paraphrase.)

 

Japanese towns cancel plans to host Olympic athletes as Covid fears mount

 

It almost seems that the only people in Japan that really want the Olympics to go on are parts of the government and the IOC.

Tokyo medical association calls for cancellation of Tokyo Olympics due to spike in Covid cases

I am really beginning to believe that nothing good will come from holding the Olympics as scheduled. However the almighty dollar (Or yen) will drive people to risk anything.
I wonder what the equation of lives vs money actually is for the IOC.
That is how many lives is it worth for each dollar (yen) the the Olympics will bring in?

 

While some events could be moved to another country, like soccer could be moved to the US, there is no country, even the US, that could gear up for the entire Olympics, including the housing, food and other support that would be needed, in such a short time. I believe that moving the Olympics is out of the question.

Also any further delay would conflict with too many other events like soccer would have rather extreme difficulties because of conflicts with WC qualifying and many other events already set world wide.

That leaves cancellation as the only real alternative. While that would mean that a lot of money would have been wasted it seems that refueling the pandemic is the result that holding the Olympics would cause and unnecessarily risking the lives of all involved. It has already been shown that none of the vaccines are more than about 95% effective in prevention and that means that at least 5% of vaccinated people can catch the disease and infect others.

It simply is no longer worth the risk.

 

Well it seems official. The IOC cares about money a LOT more than about the health and well being of the spectators (limited as they will be), athletes and support people.

Tokyo Olympics to open even if COVID-19 cases rise in Japan