Tokyo 2020: Japan fires back at ‘cancellation’ report, insisting Olympic Games will go ahead as planned

Organisers say there is ‘no truth’ to report in ‘The Times’ that the country is focused on rescheduling the Olympics to 2032

Top Australian official Matt Carroll says ‘the Tokyo Games are on. The flame will be lit on July 23, 2021’

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The giant Olympic Rings installation is illuminated in Odaiba Marine Park at night. Photo: DPA

Published: 3:07pm, 22 Jan 2021Updated: 3:18pm, 22 Jan 2021

Japan doubled down on its commitment to host the Tokyo Olympics this year and flatly denied reports on Friday of a cancellation, in a move that is unlikely to temper public fears of holding the event during a global pandemic.

Though much of Japan is under a state of emergency because of a third wave of Covid-19 infections, Tokyo organisers have consistently vowed to press ahead with the Games scheduled to open on July 23 after having been postponed in March last year.

A government spokesman said there was “no truth” to a report in The Times that Japan was now focused on rescheduling the event to 2032.

“We will clearly deny the report,” deputy chief cabinet secretary Manabu Sakai said in a press conference on Friday.

The Tokyo 2020 organising committee also denied the report, saying its partners including the Japanese government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were “fully focused” on hosting the Games as scheduled.