Dear President Thomas Bach,
An outstanding Indian statesman, an old friend of mine, has sent me the
link to a brief editorial in " The Indian Express" dated July 25, on
the occasion of what would have been the first weekend of the Tokyo
Games.
The editorial is headed, "Dreams laid low". Its gist is as follows.
<With the COVID vaccine not expected to be ready for mass distribution
by next summer, it will be difficult for Japan to guarantee the safety
of the Olympians. The decision-makers are walking a tight-rope. While a
cancellation is heart-breaking for the athletes, a sporting event,
however grand, can’t be worth staging if it is a risk to human life.>
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/olympics-2020-tokyo-covid-19-6522086/
In Japan, the Corona crisis is seriously aggravating in Tokyo with the
arrival of the second wave. On March 17,Honorary Professor of Tokyo
University Tatsuhiko Kodama warned the Japanese on television that a
part of Tokyo, Shiunjuku Ward with 350 thousand inhabitants, could have
become an epicenter of Coronavirus, giving birth to a newly mutated
covid-19.He pleaded for immediately carrying out PDR tests for all the
inhabitants of the Shinjuku Ward. To this day, his pleading remains
unattended to!
Japanese civil society is convinced that the abnormal attachment to
holding the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games still constitutes the
unsurmountable obstacle. The whole world is now awakened to the fact
that this is contrary to the spirit of the Olympic Charter.
I am convinced that you realize the gravity of the present situation for the future of the Olympic Games.
With highest and warmest regards,
MItsuhei Murata
Former Japanese Ambassador to Swizerland
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