Tokyo Olympics chief: Board member who discussed delay has apologized

The head of Japan’s Olympic Games organizing committee said Wednesday that a member of the committee who had suggested postponing the games has apologized for making “outlandish” statements.

The Associated Press reported that Yoshiro Mori addressed the comments made by Haruyuki Takahashi calling for a “delay of one to two years,” stating that the Olympic organizing committee had no such plans.

“I have spoken to Mr. Takahashi and he has apologized,” Mori said, according to the news service. “He certainly said an outlandish thing.”

“There is no plan now to change our plans,” he reportedly added.

His comments came in response to remarks Takahashi made to Reuters in an interview earlier in the day where he suggested that such a delay would be “more feasible” than attempting to go forward with plans to host the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo amid the global outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus, which originated in China. 

Hundreds of cases of the disease have been reported in Japan.

“We need to start preparing for any possibility. If the Games can’t be held in the summer, a delay of one or two years would be most feasible,” Takahashi said Wednesday.

His remarks were also swiftly dismissed in an official statement from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which clarified that Takahashi was giving his own personal opinion.

“We sought clarification from Mr. Takahashi; he stated he had inadvertently given his personal opinion in response to a hypothetical question,” the IOC executive board responded.

“As IOC President [Thomas Bach] stated the other day, neither the IOC nor the organising committee are considering postponing or cancelling the Tokyo 2020 Games, and we are proceeding with our preparations for a safe and secure Games opening on July 24, 2020, as planned,” the board continued.