The cancellation of the 2020 games in Tokyo was seemingly almost inevitable given the current climate at the time with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but as we quickly approach the July start date there have been many calls to see the event cancelled as a whole once again – concerns continue to rise but the IOC have been insistent that cancelling the games is off the cards. It’s one of the biggest sporting events in the world, bringing athletes and fans represented all over the world and opportunities for punters as betting thrives at thebestcasinos.co.uk amongst others during the Olympics – but what is it that’s leading for calls to cancel?

Low vaccination rates in Japan – Much of the concern being raised is by that of residents of Japan – with vaccination efforts starting much later, currently only around 2.3% of the Japanese population are vaccinated with hopes that only over 65’s will be fully protected by the end of July which still leaves a huge number not protected – although there hasn’t been much guidance on what international travel to the region will look like, there’s still going to be a huge influx of visitors given all of the athletes and their support teams too. Some residents even suggest that there are growing fears it could lead to a variant of the virus specifically because of the Olympics.

Olympic village fears grow too – Housing thousands of athletes is only a small part of the challenge that faces the Olympics whenever it moves to a different city which would ordinarily be a challenge for containment in itself, but given the well known proclivities of athletes within the Olympic village across the whole event it does raise other concerns, and it would produce an environment where ensuring safety would be extremely difficult, particularly for the athletes in peak physical condition which ordinarily leaves them a little more vulnerable.

A beacon of hope – Despite the calls to cancel, the IOC continues to insist that the games must go ahead, and have suggested that a successful games could be a symbol of hope for the world after a difficult 2020 and after the continued turbulence of 2021 too – if things are able to get ahead and running without fault, then it does provide a symbol that things are back on their way to normal, but does also mean the opposite is true where a misstep could show just how dire the situation could be.

As it stands, things are going ahead as planned and continued preparations are being made to ensure the proper and comprehensive Covid-19 countermeasures are in place to protect residents, visitors, and athletes, but whether or not the measures will be enough will only be seen in time.