Nearly 2.5 lakh people have put on record that they want the Tokyo 2020 Games to be cancelled. That is the number of signatures received by an online petition for calling of the forthcoming Olympics.
Call to cancel the Olympic Games in wake of the new Covid-19 wave is growing bigger by the day. With just 76 days to go for the opening ceremony on July 23, the Games have faced certain opposition from more than 2.25 lakh people.
The digital petition, seeking cancellation of the Games in wake of the fresh Covid-19 wave, is addressed to the International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach, his Paralympic Committee counterpart Andrew Parsons.
It is also addressed to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto and Olympics Minister Tamayo Marukawa.
The petition was launched by Japanese politician Kenji Utsunomiya, who was defeated by Koike in the last race to the Tokyo Governor’s office.
“The spread of new corona infections has not stopped at all not only in Tokyo but also in various parts of Japan and around the world to this day,” Utsunomiya had claimed in the petition launched on change.org.
“In order to host the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in July, we must devote a large number of medical professionals, valuable resources such as medical facilities and medical equipment, and various other resources.
“However, as various organisations have already pointed out, there is no room in Tokyo and Japan as a whole.
“Where foreign spectators are restricted, the Olympics cause large-scale movement and contact of people.
“It is highly possible that the Olympics will exacerbate the infection situation.”
Utsunomiya claimed he would seek to give Bach the petition when he was due to visit Tokyo later this month.
