If protests, petitions and votes to cancel the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were not enough, a top Chief Executive has declared the idea of hosting the Games this summer a “suicide mission”.
Leading Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten’s CEO Hiroshi Mikitani has said that hosting the Olympic Games would be a “suicide mission” for the country.
“It’s dangerous to host the big international event from all over the world. So, the risk is too big,” Hiroshi Mikitani told CNN Business in an exclusive interview. “The upside is not that great, and we see many countries are still struggling so much, including India and Brazil. And it’s not time to celebrate yet.”
Hiroshi Mikitani just like many others was trying to persuade the Government to call of the Games, which were rescheduled last year to start from July 23, 2021. The Rakuten boss also slammed the Government for its poor handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, giving it only two marks of a one two ten scale.
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Earlier, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son had expressed fears for Japan and other countries if the Games were allowed to go ahead as scheduled.
“I am very much afraid of having the Olympics, not just for Japan but for many countries. They are having a tough situation. I don’t know how they can support sending athletes,” Son had told CNBC.
One of the leading sponsors of the forthcoming Games, Toyota Motors too had expressed similar concern. “We have been deeply concerned by reports that athletes have become the target of some people’s frustrations about the current medical situation,” Toyota’s Operating Officer Jun Nagata had said on Wednesday.
“We have been working to identify what we can do as a sponsor to help that situation because we are really concerned with the situation as a top sponsor,” added Nagata.
Japan recently extended its third state of emergency to deal with the pandemic, raising safety concerns over volunteers, athletes, officials and the Japanese public.
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