July 23, (THEWILL) – Outside the Olympic Stadium where the dazzling opening ceremony of the XXXII Summer Games took place on Friday, a collection of Japanese protesters were gathered to register their overt opposition to the government’s decision to stage the Tokyo 2020 showpiece in the middle of a pandemic.
They made their presence felt and could be heard from within the grounds of the stadium itself as it was sparsely populated with fewer than 1,000 spectators composed mostly of Olympic officials, a handful of invited guests, reporters and news crew.
While the Japanese Emperor Naruhito declared the Games open and home-favourite tennis star Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic Cauldron, objectors, who had rallied to force the government of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to reconsider hosting the postponed Games were in good voice beyond the security cordoned area of the venue.
Locally-conducted polls consistently noted that a large portion of Japan’s citizens were objectively opposed to the country’s hosting of the Olympics while they were still facing daily infection cases of the coronavirus and the very real threat of the more infectious variant immigrating into the country.
The protesters were seen in videos shared on social media, shouting different choruses like “Olympics no”, and calling for the Games to be cancelled. The strategically-placed security guards held them back from advancing into the stadium and kept things under control throughout the ceremony.
However, the sheer numbers of the protesters led to a temporary closure of one of Tokyo’s busiest roads. They may not have succeeded in derailing the schedule as the opening ceremony finished without a hitch but the strength of numbers will be a confidence boost for the organisers.
Opposition to the determined stance of the Japanese government to stick to the postponed timeline has been an issue that the Tokyo 2020 officials, the Japanese Government and the IOC have had to deal with in the lead up to the commencement of the events of the Tokyo Games.
Recent positive cases from daily test of athletes in the Olympics Village is fair justification for the position of the anti-Olympic protesters and health experts whose concerns hinge on the prevailing pandemic which continues to grip the world.
Despite assurances of the organisers that they can handle what outcomes emerge from the Games, Japanese medical experts have warned that hosting the Olympics and Paralympics could help accelerate the spread of coronavirus in their country which would be a burden for the health sector.
As THEWILL reported, Tokyo remains under a state of emergency, and it still registered almost 2,000 new infections a day before the opening of the Games. That was why the planned allowance for 10,000 fans or 50 per cent of the venue’s capacity for the opening ceremony was shelved when the state of emergency was declared.
It falls right into the hands of the protesters and they will continue to stress the fact of a continuous increase in positive cases outside and within the Games in their opposition to the hosting. If anything, the Tokyo Olympics organisers will keep the protesters away from the Games and continue on schedule.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
