Reuters Next: Suntory CEO not certain Japan can hold Olympics, should know by end-March

Suntory Beverage & Food

13/01/2021 07:27

(Adds more quotes, details)
    By Kevin Krolicki
    TOKYO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The head of Japanese beverage
group Suntory Holdings, who is also a government adviser, said
he was uncertain whether Japan can host the Olympics due to the
coronavirus pandemic, and that the decision would likely be made
by end-March.
    "I'm not sure whether we'll be able to hold the Tokyo
Olympics or not," Suntory CEO Takeshi Niinami, an economic
adviser to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, told Reuters in an
online interview on Wednesday.
    "But it's a great message to the world, as overcoming the
battle against COVID. Definitely, we should make every effort."
    Japan initially managed to avoid the kind of explosion in
coronavirus cases seen in countries such as the United States,
but infections have risen steadily. The government said on
Wednesday it would expand a state of emergency it declared for
the Tokyo area last week to seven more prefectures.
    Government officials insist they are preparing for the
Olympics this summer as planned, following last year's
postponement because of the pandemic. But polls have shown the
public's hope for the Games has faded.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2JO019    
    Niinami said that a decision will likely be made by the end
of March, as the third wave of infections will likely continue
through the end of February or early March.
    Niinami had also been adviser to former Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe, under whose leadership Japan aggressively bid to
host the Olympics and courted foreign investment in the
hospitality sector.
    
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 (Reporting by Kevin Krolicki; Writing by Ritsuko Ando; Editing
by Kim Coghill)