Explore some constructive alternative in lieu of holding the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics
KAWATO Akio / Former Japanese ambassador to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Columnist at Japanese “Newsweek”
May 25, 2021
I finally managed to make the booking for my coronavirus vaccination, but the pandemic shows no sign of abating by the time of the Tokyo Olympics in July. The Suga Administration and the IOC (International Olympics Committee) apparently have staked their fate on holding the Olympics as planned. If things continue as they are, it seems more likely that they will fail and their power will be damaged.
Let’s try a bit of simulation to see if the Tokyo Olympics can really be held as planned.
To start with, welcoming the athletes at the airports and transporting them to their accommodations at the Olympic Village. Through the Olympic and Paralympic period, more than 10,000 athletes and other participants will be swarming in, one group after another, from all over the world. Given the differences in anti-COVID-19 measures from country to country, the quarantine will have to be administered scrupulously in a fashion tailor-made to each country and individual. There will be a large number of athletes and officers of national teams who cannot speak English. There may be enough citizen volunteers in numbers, who have been recruited to assist the athletes and other participants from abroad. But can they really take care of the multitude of detailed needs that may arise amid the COVID-19 pandemic?
Buses cannot be used for transporting these people within Japan. For every single one of them, a car, a driver, and an attendant will be needed. In the Olympic Village, single rooms, instead of shared rooms thus far planned, will have to be allocated to each athlete/participant. The little less than 4000 rooms currently available will not be sufficient. The dining rooms will be packed full, far beyond the allowable level of density. This means that meals will have to be delivered to each room by catering service: an impossible job.
With the Olympics under normal circumstances, problems that may arise can be dealt with at the discretion of the athletes themselves or the officers of the national teams. This time, however, the central “headquarters” will need to monitor the movements of all the athletes including those competing outside Tokyo and, whenever problems arise, will have to coordinate with all those concerned with a view to solving them, and instruct the attendants to act accordingly. This is a huge logistic feat that requires the know-how as well as the means of communication to mobilize a large number of vehicles and personnel simultaneously. It may only be the Self-Defense Forces or the police that can do this, but we should refrain from using them, which would be an extra-legal expediency. Taking all these into account, it does seem impracticable to hold the Tokyo Olympics under the present circumstances.
It is said that the International Olympic Committee secures 70% of its revenue through television broadcasting rights fees (NBC Universal of the US alone has allegedly committed itself to pay the IOC $7.65 billion for monopolizing the broadcasting rights through 2032), and distributes a part of the revenue to support sports organizations and national Olympic committees around the world. If the Olympic Games are called off, such sports activities will presumably cease to be viable.
However, in January this year, a source connected with the international Olympic movement stated that even if the Tokyo Olympics were cancelled, it would not mean that some sports organization will cease to operate. It is true that some in Japan take the matter seriously and argue that should the Games be cancelled, cancellation fee would have to be paid. But there is no such provision in the contract between IOC and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
The modern Olympic Games were founded through the efforts of Baron Pierre de Coubertin. It was thanks to the work of people involved in sports around the world that the pure and clean image of the Olympics, based on the amateur spirit, was established. But today, the amount of money changing hands around the Olympics has become much too large. No one knows for certain how much money is channeled where and for what purpose.
This leads me to suggest that, instead of merely cancelling the Tokyo Olympics & Paralympics, each country invites its public to come up with free and costless alternative ideas. For example, some interesting event in commemoration of the Tokyo Olympics & Paralympics may be held with the participation of its athletes who would have participated in the Tokyo Games. The event may be disseminated worldwide through SNS, and the number of 👍 Like signs earned can be the subject of competition around the world. The advertising revenue can be donated to developing countries to help them purchase coronavirus vaccines. If Japan takes such an initiative and sets up a unified SNS platform using its own fund, it may assuage the feelings of the athletes, save the fate of IOC and the Suga Administration, and improve Japan’s image as well.
Let’s try a bit of simulation to see if the Tokyo Olympics can really be held as planned.
To start with, welcoming the athletes at the airports and transporting them to their accommodations at the Olympic Village. Through the Olympic and Paralympic period, more than 10,000 athletes and other participants will be swarming in, one group after another, from all over the world. Given the differences in anti-COVID-19 measures from country to country, the quarantine will have to be administered scrupulously in a fashion tailor-made to each country and individual. There will be a large number of athletes and officers of national teams who cannot speak English. There may be enough citizen volunteers in numbers, who have been recruited to assist the athletes and other participants from abroad. But can they really take care of the multitude of detailed needs that may arise amid the COVID-19 pandemic?
Buses cannot be used for transporting these people within Japan. For every single one of them, a car, a driver, and an attendant will be needed. In the Olympic Village, single rooms, instead of shared rooms thus far planned, will have to be allocated to each athlete/participant. The little less than 4000 rooms currently available will not be sufficient. The dining rooms will be packed full, far beyond the allowable level of density. This means that meals will have to be delivered to each room by catering service: an impossible job.
With the Olympics under normal circumstances, problems that may arise can be dealt with at the discretion of the athletes themselves or the officers of the national teams. This time, however, the central “headquarters” will need to monitor the movements of all the athletes including those competing outside Tokyo and, whenever problems arise, will have to coordinate with all those concerned with a view to solving them, and instruct the attendants to act accordingly. This is a huge logistic feat that requires the know-how as well as the means of communication to mobilize a large number of vehicles and personnel simultaneously. It may only be the Self-Defense Forces or the police that can do this, but we should refrain from using them, which would be an extra-legal expediency. Taking all these into account, it does seem impracticable to hold the Tokyo Olympics under the present circumstances.
It is said that the International Olympic Committee secures 70% of its revenue through television broadcasting rights fees (NBC Universal of the US alone has allegedly committed itself to pay the IOC $7.65 billion for monopolizing the broadcasting rights through 2032), and distributes a part of the revenue to support sports organizations and national Olympic committees around the world. If the Olympic Games are called off, such sports activities will presumably cease to be viable.
However, in January this year, a source connected with the international Olympic movement stated that even if the Tokyo Olympics were cancelled, it would not mean that some sports organization will cease to operate. It is true that some in Japan take the matter seriously and argue that should the Games be cancelled, cancellation fee would have to be paid. But there is no such provision in the contract between IOC and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
The modern Olympic Games were founded through the efforts of Baron Pierre de Coubertin. It was thanks to the work of people involved in sports around the world that the pure and clean image of the Olympics, based on the amateur spirit, was established. But today, the amount of money changing hands around the Olympics has become much too large. No one knows for certain how much money is channeled where and for what purpose.
This leads me to suggest that, instead of merely cancelling the Tokyo Olympics & Paralympics, each country invites its public to come up with free and costless alternative ideas. For example, some interesting event in commemoration of the Tokyo Olympics & Paralympics may be held with the participation of its athletes who would have participated in the Tokyo Games. The event may be disseminated worldwide through SNS, and the number of 👍 Like signs earned can be the subject of competition around the world. The advertising revenue can be donated to developing countries to help them purchase coronavirus vaccines. If Japan takes such an initiative and sets up a unified SNS platform using its own fund, it may assuage the feelings of the athletes, save the fate of IOC and the Suga Administration, and improve Japan’s image as well.
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
東京オリンピック・パラリンピックは前向きに中止を
河東 哲夫 / 元在ウズベキスタン・タジキスタン大使、日本版Newsweekコラムニスト
2021年 5月 25日
筆者自身、新型コロナワクチンの予約はなんとか取れたが、この感染症は東京オリンピックまでには収まるまい。菅政権と国際オリンピック委員会（ＩＯＣ）は自らの存続を五輪開催に懸けているようだが、このままでは失敗して、かえって力を失うのでないか。東京オリンピックが実現可能なのか、シミュレーションしてみよう。
まず、空港で選手たちを出迎え、選手村に送るところから。オリンピック・パラリンピック会期を通じて１万人以上の選手と関係者が、世界中から三々五々とやって来る。国ごとに感染対策が違うので、検疫も国ごとや一人一人にテーラーメイド方式の入念な対応が必要だ。英語のできない選手や役員も多数いる。現在確保している市民ボランティアは、人数は十分でもコロナ禍での細かいニーズに対応できるかどうか。
国内での移動にバスは使えない。１人ずつ１台の車と運転手、そしてアテンド要員が必要になる。選手村は、現在の相部屋ではなく１人１部屋に。現在の４０００室弱ではそれはできない。そして食堂は密そのものになるので、食事は各部屋にケータリング。
普段のオリンピックなら、選手個人、各国役員の判断で問題は片付く。しかし今回は、選手個々の事情と動きを、地方の会場にいる選手についても中央の「司令塔」が把握し、問題が起きれば関係諸方面と調整して解決を図り、アテンド要員に指令を下さなければならない。これは多数の車・人員を一手に動かすノウ・ハウ、そして通信手段を持つ自衛隊、あるいは警察くらいにしかできないことだが、彼らを超法規的に便利屋として使うのは控えるべきだ。だとすれば、今の状況での開催にはやはり無理がある。
よく「ＩＯＣはオリンピックのテレビ放映権料で（米ＮＢＣだけでも２０３２年までの放映独占権に７６億５０００万㌦を約束している ）収入の７割を確保し、これをスポーツ振興のために諸スポーツ連盟や各国の国内オリンピック委員会などに配布している。オリンピックを中止すれば、それらの活動が成り立たなくなる」と言われる。
しかし今年1月に国際オリンピック関係者が、「東京オリンピックが中止になっても、それで活動が停止する競技団体が出ることにはならない」と述べている。日本では生真面目に、「中止のときには違約金を払わねば」などと考えている人がいるが、そんなことはＩＯＣとの契約書には書いてない。
近代オリンピックはクーベルタン男爵の努力で始まった。今のようにアマチュア精神を柱に据えた清新なイメージを確立したのは、世界中のスポーツ関係者たちの努力のたまものだ。しかし今日、オリンピックをめぐって動くカネは巨大化し過ぎた。何にいくらの資金が流れているのか、分からない。
だから、東京オリンピック・パラリンピック中止と言うより、各国で自由でカネのかからない代替案を公募してはどうか。たとえば、出場予定だった選手が参加する面白い「東京大会記念」イベントを各国でやってもらい、それをＳＮＳで世界中視聴可能とし、「いいね！」の数を世界で競う。広告収入は、コロナ・ワクチン購入のために途上国に寄付する。日本がこういうイニシャティブを取り、SNS上に統合プラットフォームを自分の資金で作ったりすれば、選手たちの気持ちも、ＩＯＣや菅政権の命運も、日本のイメージも救われるのでなかろうか。
筆者はNewsweek Japan コラムニスト、元駐ウズベキスタン・タジキスタン大使。
本稿は２０２１年５月２５日付Newsweek Japanに掲載された。
まず、空港で選手たちを出迎え、選手村に送るところから。オリンピック・パラリンピック会期を通じて１万人以上の選手と関係者が、世界中から三々五々とやって来る。国ごとに感染対策が違うので、検疫も国ごとや一人一人にテーラーメイド方式の入念な対応が必要だ。英語のできない選手や役員も多数いる。現在確保している市民ボランティアは、人数は十分でもコロナ禍での細かいニーズに対応できるかどうか。
国内での移動にバスは使えない。１人ずつ１台の車と運転手、そしてアテンド要員が必要になる。選手村は、現在の相部屋ではなく１人１部屋に。現在の４０００室弱ではそれはできない。そして食堂は密そのものになるので、食事は各部屋にケータリング。
普段のオリンピックなら、選手個人、各国役員の判断で問題は片付く。しかし今回は、選手個々の事情と動きを、地方の会場にいる選手についても中央の「司令塔」が把握し、問題が起きれば関係諸方面と調整して解決を図り、アテンド要員に指令を下さなければならない。これは多数の車・人員を一手に動かすノウ・ハウ、そして通信手段を持つ自衛隊、あるいは警察くらいにしかできないことだが、彼らを超法規的に便利屋として使うのは控えるべきだ。だとすれば、今の状況での開催にはやはり無理がある。
よく「ＩＯＣはオリンピックのテレビ放映権料で（米ＮＢＣだけでも２０３２年までの放映独占権に７６億５０００万㌦を約束している ）収入の７割を確保し、これをスポーツ振興のために諸スポーツ連盟や各国の国内オリンピック委員会などに配布している。オリンピックを中止すれば、それらの活動が成り立たなくなる」と言われる。
しかし今年1月に国際オリンピック関係者が、「東京オリンピックが中止になっても、それで活動が停止する競技団体が出ることにはならない」と述べている。日本では生真面目に、「中止のときには違約金を払わねば」などと考えている人がいるが、そんなことはＩＯＣとの契約書には書いてない。
近代オリンピックはクーベルタン男爵の努力で始まった。今のようにアマチュア精神を柱に据えた清新なイメージを確立したのは、世界中のスポーツ関係者たちの努力のたまものだ。しかし今日、オリンピックをめぐって動くカネは巨大化し過ぎた。何にいくらの資金が流れているのか、分からない。
だから、東京オリンピック・パラリンピック中止と言うより、各国で自由でカネのかからない代替案を公募してはどうか。たとえば、出場予定だった選手が参加する面白い「東京大会記念」イベントを各国でやってもらい、それをＳＮＳで世界中視聴可能とし、「いいね！」の数を世界で競う。広告収入は、コロナ・ワクチン購入のために途上国に寄付する。日本がこういうイニシャティブを取り、SNS上に統合プラットフォームを自分の資金で作ったりすれば、選手たちの気持ちも、ＩＯＣや菅政権の命運も、日本のイメージも救われるのでなかろうか。
筆者はNewsweek Japan コラムニスト、元駐ウズベキスタン・タジキスタン大使。
本稿は２０２１年５月２５日付Newsweek Japanに掲載された。
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟