The mayor candidate for London, Shaun Bailey, said that London is ready to host the Summer Olympics if Tokyo cannot. (Image via Evening Standard)

Shaun Bailey: If Tokyo can't, London will

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Sports & Culture
More Sports
Feb 21, 2020
17978
A candidate for mayor of London from Conservative party, Shaun Bailey, tweeted that if Tokyo remains “sick” ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, London would be ready to host the sports event.

Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) originating in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Central China, major sports events for both Olympics and its qualifying events are on the verge of either being canceled or postponed. Currently, COVID-19 has killed more than 2,000 and infected 74,000 globally.

Previously, London was the host of the 2012 Olympics. However, London played it cool, respecting Tokyo who had been preparing for the event since winning the bid in 2013.

The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo is set to begin on 24 July. The Tokyo organizers had set up a task force to coordinate with public health authorities over the viral outbreak. While the World Health Organization (WHO) declared PHEIC status for the COVID-19, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has no problem with it, nor does it have any contingency plan to cancel or move the Olympics’ venue.

In Japan itself, hundreds of its nationals have been infected by the COVID-19. Recently, two people died on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship, sparking another possibility that the sports event might be canceled.

While London shows its willingness to host the Olympics, Shaun’s offer is faced with skepticism. With the London mayoral election is due on 7 May, Shaun Bailey is trailing behind the incumbent Sadiq Khan.

Shaun’s tweet immediately got its way to the Japanese media and became a trending topic. The Japanese people saw red and blamed the United Kingdom (U.K) for not helping in quarantining the Diamond Princess, a U.K-flagged ship owned by Carnival Corp.

Source: https://bit.ly/39PviC2

Medical , Health , Disease , Pulmonary , Pneumonia , COVID-19 , Coronavirus , Sports , Summer-Olympics , Asia , Japan , Europe , U.K , London , Tokyo