Two top officials of Japan’s ruling LDP party on Thursday said radical changes could be coming to the Tokyo Olympics. One went as far to suggest they still could be cancelled, and the other that even if they proceed, it might be without any fans.
Toshihiro Nikai, the secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, suggested the cancellation just a day after Tokyo reached the 100-days-to-go mark on Wednesday.
He made his comments in a show recorded by Japan’s TBS TV. “If it seems impossible to go on with the games, they must be definitely canceled,” Nikai said. “If there is a surge in infections because of the Olympics, there will be no meaning to having the Olympics.”
Asked if a cancellation was still an option, Nikai said: “Of course.”
COVID-19 cases have been surging across Japan. Taro Kono, the government minister in charge of Japan’s vaccine rollout, said even if the Olympics go on, there may be no fans of any kind in the venues. He said it’s likely that the Olympics will have to be held in empty venues, particularly as cases surge across the country.
That means only television cameras and still cameras will be around to record the action, joined by some reporters, judges and match officials.