Sports
If we don’t have Tokyo Games, we’re unlikely to have Beijing 2022 — IOC member
If the postponed Tokyo Olympics do not go ahead next year due to COVID-19, then the 2022 Beijing Winter Games will likely also fall victim to the pandemic.
Long-time International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Dick Pound made the assertion on Wednesday in London.
“If there is no vaccine and countries are unable to contain the pandemic that continues to rage in different regions of the world, killing more than 580,000 people, then the IOC could once again be forced to postpone or cancel the Tokyo Olympics.
“This will most likely trigger a knock-on effect taking out the Beijing Games as well,’’ Pound said.
The Beijing Winter Olympics are scheduled for Feb. 4 to Feb. 20, 2022, just six months after the Tokyo Summer Games.
The Tokyo Games are now set to be held from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021 after being pushed back a year by the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“Taking the political side out of it for the moment say there is a COVID problem in July and August next year in Tokyo, it is hard to imagine there is not going to be a knock-on effect in the same area five months later,” Pound told Reuters.
The Beijing Olympics could be further complicated by a number of political showdowns.
This includs an increasingly unstable and volatile situation in Hong Kong and an American election that could see U.S./China relations as one of the main issues.
U.S. President Donald Trump has labelled the pandemic the “China virus” and blamed the country for the outbreak that first emerged from the Chinese city of Wuhan.
For months, Trump has maintained China must be “held accountable” for failing to contain the disease.
Pound, a Canadian lawyer who has served as both an IOC vice-president and head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), speculated that any number of scenarios could arise.
These included one where the threat is not so much of a U.S. boycott of the Games, but one where China might consider barring the U.S. from taking part.
This will be if the country cannot gain control over the virus.
“At least one part of the U.S. is planning an election campaign which is all anti-China,” said Pound.
“If you are a conspiracy theorist, you might say well, the WHO is strongly influenced by China and they could probably without smirking too much go to a WHO meeting,
“These meetings are usually from which the U.S. will no longer be associated, and say this isn’t positive health.
“There could be the largest number of cases in the world (in the U.S.) and it would be dangerous having Americans coming to China.
“That is an extreme supposition. There are all kinds of crazy things that could happen.”
Pound underscored that at the moment the Tokyo Summer Olympics have the IOC’s complete attention.
But he added that by the end of the year Beijing would also be on their radar.
“It (China) will certainly not be discussed at the next IOC session we have on Friday,” said Pound. “It is mostly reports and concerns about how we are dealing with Tokyo.
“Beijing is really not on the table at the moment and I think it will be an unnecessarily complicated thing to bring that in because we simply do not know about it yet.”(Reuters/NAN)
Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus could leave the club this summer, with Italian side Napoli reportedly interested in signing the Brazilian forward.
According to Sky Italia, Napoli’s new manager, Massimiliano Allegri, is a long-term admirer of Jesus and is keen to explore the possibility of bringing him to Serie A.
Jesus and Allegri share the same agent, Giovanni Branchini, who was reportedly spotted at Napoli’s pre-season training camp in Castel di Sangro on Friday.
A meeting could reportedly take place to discuss a potential move for the Arsenal forward.
Napoli’s interest could depend on their ability to offload one of their existing strikers. The club would reportedly need to find new destinations for Lorenzo Lucca, who spent last season on loan at Nottingham Forest, or Romelu Lukaku before making a move for Jesus.
Arsenal are reportedly willing to consider offers of around £18 million for the 29-year-old, who has entered the final year of his contract with the Gunners.
Jesus joined Arsenal from Manchester City in 2022 and could now be heading for a new challenge in Italy if Napoli’s interest develops into a formal transfer.
Liverpool have reportedly reached an agreement with Barcelona to sign Uruguay international Ronald Araujo on loan.
According to Sky Sports, the deal could be completed this weekend, with the 27-year-old defender set to move to Anfield on a straight loan arrangement.
Araujo renewed his Barcelona contract last year, extending his stay at the Catalan club until 2031.
However, the defender endured a difficult campaign last season and was subsequently granted an extended leave of absence from the team.
The proposed move to Liverpool would give Araujo an opportunity to revive his career in a new league and country.
The Uruguay international joined Barcelona from Uruguayan club Boston River in 2018 before making his first-team breakthrough a year later.
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has reportedly introduced a series of new rules at the club after identifying what he considered bad habits within the dressing room.
Mourinho returned to the Spanish giants for a second spell this summer and has already begun implementing changes to improve discipline and professionalism within the squad, according to AS.
One of the new measures concerns players’ diets. The Portuguese manager has reportedly ended the freedom for players to eat whatever they choose, with the club’s nutritionist now responsible for overseeing their meals.
Under the new system, menus will be carefully structured and determined according to the nutritional needs of the players.
Mourinho has also introduced a disciplinary measure for players who arrive late to training. Such players will reportedly be required to undergo individual gym sessions.
Another rule concerns injury rehabilitation. Players recovering from injuries will now be expected to complete their rehabilitation at the club’s training ground under the supervision of Real Madrid’s medical and fitness staff rather than working independently with external personnel.
The changes are part of Mourinho’s reported efforts to establish greater discipline and control within the Real Madrid squad following his return to the club.
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