Japanese superstar Naomi Osaka admitted she was “not really sure” the coronavirus-hit Tokyo Olympics should go ahead as doubts grew about the Games just weeks before the opening ceremony.
The four-time tennis Grand Slam winner joined fellow Japanese player Kei Nishikori in raising concerns, with Tokyo and other parts of Japan under a virus state of emergency.
A top politician also warned that Japan still had to make a “careful decision” about whether to hold the Games, which have scant public support according to opinion polls.
Scrapping the 2020 Olympics, postponed last year as the pandemic advanced, is a concept that has never quite gone away, despite repeated assertions from officials that they will proceed.
A survey by a leading Japanese daily released on Monday found 59 percent of respondents want the Olympics cancelled, underlining persistent public concerns over the risk of infections.
Osaka, Japan’s biggest sports star and a major gold-medal prospect, said “to be honest, I’m not really sure”, when asked if the Olympics should take place as planned.
“I’m an athlete, and of course my immediate thought is that I want to play in the Olympics,” the four-time Grand Slam winner told the BBC.
“But as a human, I would say we’re in a pandemic, and if people aren’t healthy, and if they’re not feeling safe, then it’s definitely a really big cause for concern.”
Nishikori said there “definitely should be a discussion” on whether Tokyo should plough ahead.
“I don’t know how much they are thinking about how they are gonna make (a) bubble, because this is not like 100 people,” he said.
“It’s 10,000 people in the village and playing tournaments. So I don’t think it’s easy, especially (with) what’s happening right now in Japan.”