Olympic boss Thomas Bach promised not to bring new virus risks to Japan as it hosts the "most-followed” games ever, trying to build support for an event met with tepid public support and tarnished by a recent series of gaffes.
International Olympics Committee President Bach met Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday to discuss safety measures for the Tokyo Olympics that start in just nine days. The meeting comes a day after Bach made an embarrassing flub when he met organizers in Tokyo, and referred to locals as "Chinese people.” He quickly corrected his mistake but it caught international attention.
"With the Olympic community making all our efforts, and the Japanese people have all our commitment to contribute in the best way to fight this virus and not to bring any risk to the Japanese people,” Bach told reporters after meeting Suga. "The very strict anti-COVID measures in the playbooks, they are in place, they are enforced and they are working.”
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.