Confident Japanese people will be less aggressive when they see the athletes performing, says Bach
Jul 17, 2021
Tokyo [Japan], July 17 : International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Saturday said he is confident of winning over the people of Japan during the Tokyo Olympics.
There have been concerns about Covid-19 as the Olympics approaches and there are many people in Japan who have voiced their concern about the Olympics going ahead even though Tokyo has been put under emergency.
"Even in Japan, there was never 100 per cent support for the Olympics or any other event. This is part of democracy. You will always have different opinions and such a discussion becoming more heated and emotional in the situation of a pandemic is something we have to understand," Kyodo News quoted Bach as saying.
"Many people feel under stress. They have to face uncertainty and there you react with some skepticism. This is human life. Therefore, what we can do only is to try to gain their confidence in these strict COVID measures. We will not succeed 100 per cent. That would be putting the bar too high but we are also confident that once the Japanese people will see the Japanese athletes perform this Olympic Games, hopefully, that then the attitude may become less aggressive," he added.
With just six days to go for the much-awaited Tokyo Olympics, the first case of coronavirus has been detected at the Games Village. According to NHK World, the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organising committee said the infected person is a foreign national who was staying at the Athletes' village.
NHK World cited sources claiming that the person found to be COVID-19 positive is a non-athlete. Meanwhile, a series of changes on Thursday were approved in order to respect the Tokyo 2020 health measures, with the aim of making the experience safe for everyone involved while also preserving the essence of this unique moment, when Olympians savour and celebrate the pinnacle of their sports career.