72% of Japanese want Tokyo Games cancelled or delayed: survey

About 72 percent of those polled in Japan say this year’s Tokyo Olympics should be cancelled or delayed amid worries over a rise in coronavirus cases in the country, according to a new survey.

Photo:

Kyodo via PAP/Newscom

The Kyodo News survey found 39.2 percent want the Games to be cancelled and 32.8 percent are in favour of another delay.

The summer Olympics, postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are scheduled to be held in the Japanese capital from July 23 to August 8.

Japan last month decided not to allow foreign spectators to enter the country for the Tokyo Games due to the pandemic. 

The Polish Olympic Committee in March last year welcomed the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Games to a date “no later than summer 2021” amid the coronavirus health crisis.

The decision marked the first time the world’s biggest sporting event was postponed in peacetime. The 1916, 1940 and 1944 Olympics were cancelled due to war.

(gs/pk)

Source: PAP