The International Olympic Committee (IOC) along with Japanese organisers are going through the final stages of the talks to set the opening date of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in July next year, as reported by Japanese media.
The quadrennial event that got postponed due to the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic last week, will most likely going to have its opening ceremony on July 23 in 2021 and the closing ceremony will happen in August 8, as stated by public broadcaster NHK on Sunday, citing unnamed sources.
Tokyo Olympics faced the brunt of the Coronavirus pandemic
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a delay of about one year on Tuesday after a call with IOC President Thomas Bach. It is the first postponement in the 124-year history of the modern Olympics, although several - including the 1940 Tokyo Games - were cancelled due to war. The delay is a huge blow to Japan, which has invested $12 billion in the run-up, although financial markets initially cheered by the decision, as some investors had anticipated cancellation.
Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Sunday the government, now compiling economic-stimulus measures that Abe said will be the biggest ever, will take into account that the Olympic delay will push back several trillions of yen (tens of billions of dollars) of demand to next year. "If demand is being pushed back until next year, that means the same amount of demand will evaporate this year. We'll take this into account" in compiling the stimulus package, Nishimura told a television programme.
(With agency inputs)
