Le Tokyo Olympics risk bankruptcy. The writes it Financial Times, explaining that it will be decisive the presence or absence of the audience. If held behind closed doors, the games will need an injection of public money from 800 million dollars. If, on the other hand, spectators will be able to watch the races, the financial situation will be much less serious, but the event's balance sheet could still close in the red.
In fact, the British newspaper points out that the organizers have prepared the budget considering the stadiums not only open, but also used to maximum capacity. And now it's too late to change course: according to the analysis of Financial Times on the accounts of the organizing committee, the billions of yen raised from ticket sales have already been spent and now – in case of closed doors – the only way to guarantee refunds would be to draw on taxpayers' money.
The decision on the presence or absence of the public is therefore the number one unknown that weighs on the Olympic Games, also because the Japanese government is determined to guarantee the smooth running of the event in any case starting from the 23 July.
During the last G7 in Cornwall, the prime minister Yoshihide Suga he assured that the government is in favor of the presence of the public, as long as safety standards are respected: "Considering the spread of Covid - he explained - we will decide on the capacity of the stadiums based on the number of people admitted to other sporting events".
Several public health experts argue that it would be better for Japan to prevent spectators from entering stadiums to avoid a resurgence of infections.
Shigeru Omi, the government's chief medical adviser on the pandemic, stressed the need to avoid games taking place in a 'festival mode', which is associated with a high risk of spreading the disease.
Haruo Ozaki, number one of the Tokyo Doctors Association, said instead that "if the Olympics really have to be held, closed doors are the only viable option".
The organizers and sponsors instead they push in the opposite direction, desperately trying to fill the stadiums at least partially, to amortize the investments.
Meanwhile, recording continues in Tokyo between 300 and 400 cases of Covid per day and the city will remain in a state of emergency until at least June 20. The organizers of the Olympics have postponed the decision on the attendance of the public until the end of this month, in the hope that by then the health situation will have improved.
