Games Over: Poll Shows Majority in Japan Want Tokyo Olympics Canceled or Postponed
More than 70 percent of people in Japan said in a poll released Monday they are opposed to holding the rescheduled Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The negative response comes just three months before the event, originally set down for last July but pushed back because of the global coronavirus pandemic, is due to begin.
UPI reports a local poll taken from March 10 to 12 showed 39.2 percent of respondents said they would support the cancellation of the Olympics, and 32.8 percent of those polled said the Olympics should be postponed again.
While 72 percent of the respondents expressed disapproval of current government policy, about 24.5 percent of those surveyed said the Olympics should proceed as planned, the report said.
Nearly all respondents to the survey, or 92.6 percent, expressed concern about the further spread of the Chinese coronavirus and a “fourth wave” of the deadly disease.
Japan has invested billions to organize the Olympics, and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has repeatedly maintained the games must take place – even as Japanese citizens began pushing back against the games earlier this year:
More than 80% of people in Japan who were surveyed in two polls in the last few days say the Tokyo Olympics should be canceled or postponed, or say they believe the Olympics will not take place. https://t.co/GRfjpnxHrX
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 12, 2021
According to Sports Illustrated on Monday, government audits indicate Japan has allocated about $25 billion for the Olympics, which would make the event the most expensive Olympics on record by $10 billion.
News of the increasing rejection of the event by locals comes just a month after it was announced volunteers from abroad will not be allowed into Japan to help run the Games, as Breitbart News reported.
That announcement came two days after organizers said they would also ban international fans, thus making it a locals-only two weeks of sporting endeavour.
UPI contributed to this story
