Since the new crown epidemic spread globally in March 2020, the suspense about the Tokyo Olympics has always been there, whether it can be held, when it will be held, and how it will be held so far are all subject to question marks. Initially, the IOC and the Tokyo Organizing Committee insisted on holding the games as scheduled, but at the end of March they had to make a decision to postpone the games to July 23-August 8, 2021. The additional costs incurred as a result of the postponement amounted to $2.83 billion, and after lengthy discussions and communication, were eventually borne by the Japanese central government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games in a tripartite ****.

As the situation of the new crown epidemic continues to be severe, the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games has also successively proposed measures to reduce the scale, simplify the process, control the number of spectators, etc., just to ensure that the event goes smoothly and will not be further postponed or canceled.

In August 2020, the organizing committee hinted that the 2021 Games might be held with an empty stadium, but it was in November that IOC President Bach first proposed allowing spectators and encouraging participants to get vaccinated. But Bach's statement also failed to signal that things were looking up, and by December, applications for Olympic ticket refunds had reached about 810,000, with refunds amounting to 18 percent of the total amount of spectator tickets.

The time has come to 2021, and the gloom over the Tokyo Olympics still hasn't lifted.

Yesterday, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said at a government press conference that despite the severity of the outbreak, the Japanese government's determination to continue hosting the Olympics will not change, and will take all possible measures to control the outbreak.

Yesterday, which also marked the 200-day anniversary of the countdown to the Tokyo Olympics, Tokyo Shimbun published an interview with Taehiro Yamashita, the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee.

When asked about the low level of support for the Olympics shown by the Japanese public in opinion polls, he said: ? Under the current circumstances, it is natural for people to feel anxious. It is unlikely that Tokyo will be able to host an Olympics like London and Rio, the format of the Olympics will change, there may be no spectators, and there may be no interaction between the athletes and the public.?

From the statement of the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee, it is likely that this year's Olympic Games will take the form of an empty stadium, while broadcasting the games to the world through live streaming and other means.

The epidemic in Japan has continued to deteriorate over the last month, and on December 31, 2020, 4,250 new cases of new coronary pneumonia were diagnosed in Japan on a single day, creating a new record high.NHK reported that Japan's metropolitan area, 1 metropolis and 3 prefectures resolved in the evening of January 4 to start since January 8? Emergency measures? , calling on people to avoid going out after 8 p.m. and asking restaurants to close early.

Despite the dire situation of the epidemic, the decision of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (TOCOG) was supported by the sponsors, and at the end of December 2020, the TOCOG announced an agreement with all 68 domestic Japanese sponsors to extend their sponsorship contracts until 2021 to support the postponed Games. In addition, the sponsors will increase their sponsorship by more than 22 billion yen ($210 million) to cover the growing budget gap. Prior to this, the Olympic organizing committee has raised the budget for the Games several times.

Judging from the attitude of the sponsors and the Japan Organizing Committee, this year's Olympic Games are still a must-have. Japan will not give up the slightest opportunity to host, host or will be organized, every year of delay, the loss is incalculable. Instead of directly canceling and admit defeat, it is better to go along with the trend to do more or less can still save some losses.

However, even if the finalization of all the competitions held in the empty field, a lot of problems still can not be avoided.

First, how many countries will participate?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) currently recognizes more than 200 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) around the world as members, and in the five Summer Olympics since 2000, there has been one NOC member absent from each of the three games, and all NOC members have sent athletes to the games in two of the five games.

And this year, based on the current global epidemic, it is estimated that even if the Tokyo Olympics are held according to the current schedule, the number of NOCs that can actually send athletes to compete will shrink dramatically.

Optimistically, maybe 160 of the 200-plus NOC members could come; pessimistically, maybe only 60 to 80.

Secondly, with the large number of athletes arriving at the Olympic Village, will the immunization efforts be strong enough to be enforced?

If the Olympics are held on time, I'm sure the JOC officials will develop a series of anti-epidemic policies, but the free-spirited nature of Europeans and Americans may be a problem for anti-epidemic work. Last season the NFL and the NBA both adopted a centralized field game model for empty games. But there are still players who violate the epidemic prevention rules.?

Seattle Seahawks' Kemar? Severance, dressed up an untested female companion as a teammate and snuck her into the team's hotel. In the end, the Seahawks decided to just fire Kemar? Severance.

The Clippers' Louis Williams, who left on bereavement leave from the team but ran off to a nightclub to party, also suffered sanctions from the team afterward.

Even in a league where the fate of their future is at stake, players can't keep their active genes in check. In exchange for the Olympic Games, where you can't get a direct paycheck on the one hand, and the tantalizing terroir of the East on the other, can they control themselves?

To exaggerate, the Olympics could also become a big gathering of all kinds of mutant viruses.

Of course, with less than six months to go before the delayed start of the Tokyo Olympics, it's hard to know what will happen, and what if there's a major breakthrough in the development and popularization of a vaccine?

But support for the Olympics is dwindling in Japan, with an NHK poll in late December showing that less than 30% of respondents think the Olympics should be continued, compared to about 50% of respondents who supported continuing the Olympics in NHK's poll last June. What do you think about hosting the Olympics this year?