Olympics
JAPANESE INSIST, ‘THE SHOW MUST GO ON’ DESPITE CORONAVIRUS
Japanese officials, not to mention spectators who have been lucky enough to land their hands on a much-coveted golden ticket to a live Olympic event, are fervently hoping that the show will go on.
Saori Asano, 25, who snagged tickets through a ballot to the men’s football final with her university friends, told The Straits Times: “I have been really looking forward to this event, and so I will be very disappointed if it is not going to happen.”
Tickets to the Tokyo Olympics, slated for July 24 to Aug 9, have been highly sought after.
There were over 100 million applications during the two phases of domestic ticket lottery for just 4.48 million tickets.
Referring to rising speculation that the Tokyo Olympics may be in jeopardy due to the unfolding coronavirus outbreak around the world, Asano, who works in communications, said: “This is a big lifetime event that Japan has been preparing to host for a long time.
“I’m sure the risk of cancelling the Olympics outweighs the risk of going ahead.”
Last Friday the term “chushi da chushi” (Just cancel it!) trended on Twitter, as a scene in an 1988 cyberpunk anime Akira seemed like it would prove prophetic.
The movie had famously predicted that Tokyo will host the Games in 2020, and in the scene, the phrase was scrawled in graffiti under a countdown timer with 147 days to go to the Games.
Last Friday marked precisely 147 days to the opening ceremony on July 24.
The last time the modern Games were scrapped was during World War II, and top Japanese officials at every level, including Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, have put on a brave face and vowed to continue preparations for the Games.
Still, Japan has no Plan B if it cannot proceed as planned, Katsura Enyo, deputy director general of the Tokyo 2020 Preparation Bureau at the city government, told Reuters.
“We are not even thinking of when or in what contingency we might decide things. There is no thought of change at all in my mind,” she said.
But Japan is considering downsizing its Olympic torch relay, which will flag off on March 26 in Fukushima and pass through all 47 prefectures.
Some qualifying tournaments have also either been rescheduled or, in the case of the Tokyo Marathon yesterday, scaled down and restricted only to elite athletes, while participants have been barred from entering and spectators urged not to line the streets.
The 1964 Tokyo Games showcased Japan’s rise from the ashes of World War II, and introduced the world to pioneering ideas like the shinkansen bullet train as well as pictographs that served to bridge the language barrier.
It has billed the Games this year as the “reconstruction Games” to showcase how it has recovered from the March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters, and in return anticipates a major economy and tourism fillip from the marquee sporting event.
Japan has already spent the majority of the estimated 1.35 trillion yen (S$17.4 billion) that the Games are estimated to cost.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) and the Tokyo Games Organising Committee will spend 600 billion yen each, while the national government will contribute 150 billion yen. The TMG is setting aside another 810 billion yen in “related costs”.
Japan has already built a raft of new facilities, including the 156.9 billion yen showpiece National Stadium, designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma, and the Ariake Arena in the Odaiba district, a 37 billion yen site that will host volleyball and wheelchair basketball during the Paralympics.
Any move to delay or cancel the Games will prove costly to the Japanese companies that have pitched in a record of more than US$3 billion in sponsorship deals, as well as international broadcasters.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach sought to put paid to speculation of the fate of the Games when he told reporters on Thursday: “We are fully committed to a successful Olympic Games in Tokyo starting July 24.”
Fellow IOC member Dick Pound had said last week that a decision would have to be made by May as to whether to proceed with the Tokyo Olympics this year, suggesting that it would be “not impossible” to shift the Games to 2021.
But he stressed: “Our plan is that unless the elephant in the room becomes ginormous, we’re going to open the Games on July 24.”
Tokyo resident Akiho Mishina, 26, who has tickets to watch equestrian events with her family, said there could be greater focus on prevention and hygiene, in case the coronavirus scare has not died down, and that in a worst-case scenario, “it might be rather comfortable to hold the event in autumn”.
-The Strait Times
Nigeria’s Super Falcons will face a confident and free-scoring Comoros side in the next round of the women’s football qualifiers for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games after the island nation completed a staggering 30-0 aggregate demolition of Sudan.
Comoros sealed their passage to the next stage with a 13-0 victory in the second leg of their first-round tie, having already recorded a commanding win in the opening match. The result saw the Coelacanthes score an extraordinary 30 goals across the two legs without conceding a single goal.
The emphatic triumph has generated excitement around the rapidly improving Comoros women’s national team, but a much sterner examination now awaits against Africa’s most successful women’s football nation.
Nigeria, ten-time African champions and one of the continent’s traditional powerhouses, enter the next round as overwhelming favourites. However, Comoros’ remarkable scoring exploits against Sudan suggest they will arrive with growing confidence and belief.
The Coelacanthes dominated both encounters from start to finish, displaying clinical finishing and defensive solidity that left Sudan with no answer. Their tally of 30 goals over two matches represents an astonishing average of 15 goals per game.
For Nigeria, the fixture will mark the beginning of another quest for Olympic qualification after missing out on the women’s football tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Super Falcons, who recently impressed in their international friendly victories over Senegal in Ikenne, boast vastly greater experience and pedigree than their upcoming opponents. The nine-time Women’s Africa Cup of Nations champions have consistently been among the continent’s strongest teams and remain Africa’s highest-ranked women’s national side.
Comoros coach Youssouf Abdallah has described his team’s performances against Sudan as evidence of the progress being made within the squad, but the encounter with Nigeria will provide a true measure of their development.
While Comoros’ record-breaking victory has captured attention across African football, the challenge of overcoming Nigeria represents a significant leap in quality. The Super Falcons have traditionally dominated lower-ranked African opponents and will be expected to continue their march towards a place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The dates for the second-round qualifiers are expected to be confirmed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), with the winners advancing further in the race for a place at the Olympic Games in the United States.
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By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, will begin their campaign for a place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games from the second round of the African qualifiers after being granted a bye in the opening stage.
The draw, conducted on Wednesday in Cairo by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), placed Nigeria among 29 higher-ranked teams exempted from the first round of the series.
The Super Falcons will take on the winner of the first-round clash between South Sudan and Comoros in their opening fixture of the qualifiers.
A total of 35 nations are competing for just two available slots allocated to Africa for the women’s football tournament at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, underlining the intensity and high stakes of the qualification process.
The qualifiers will be contested over five knockout rounds on a home-and-away basis, leaving little room for error as teams battle for continental representation on the global stage.
The first round involves the six lowest-ranked teams—Sudan, Mauritius, Djibouti, South Sudan, Madagascar and Comoros—based on the latest FIFA Women’s World Rankings. Winners from this stage will advance to face each other again before the 29 seeded teams, including Nigeria, enter the fray.
Nigeria will be aiming to consolidate their status among Africa’s elite women’s football nations, having qualified for the most recent Olympic tournament alongside Zambia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Although the Super Falcons boast a notable Olympic pedigree, having made their debut at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and subsequently appearing at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and Paris 2024, qualification has not always been easy.
The 16-year gap between their last two participations in Beijing 2008 and Paris 2024 illustrates the tough time they have endured in the qualifying series.
With the women’s football event at Los Angeles 2028 set to feature 16 teams—including hosts the United States—Nigeria’s path to qualification is expected to be demanding.
Attention will now shift to the preliminary encounter between South Sudan and Comoros, as Nigeria’s technical crew intensify preparations ahead of their second-round entry point.
For the Super Falcons, the mission is clear: successfully navigate a rigorous qualifying campaign and secure a return to the Olympic stage in 2028.
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Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, will on Wednesday discover their route to the football event of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles when the Confederation of African Football conducts the official draw in Cairo.
The draw ceremony, scheduled for April 29 at CAF headquarters in Egypt, will set in motion Africa’s qualifying campaign for the women’s football tournament of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
A total of 35 countries, including Nigeria, will participate in the race for just two tickets allocated to Africa for the Olympic football event, which will take place from July 11 to 29, 2028.
Alongside Nigeria, other contenders include continental heavyweights such as South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco and Zambia, as well as a wide range of emerging nations from across the continent.
The full list of participating teams also features Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
According to CAF, the qualification series will be played over five rounds, gradually narrowing the field to the two teams that will fly Africa’s flag at the Olympics in the United States.
For Nigeria, Africa’s most successful women’s national team, the qualifiers present another opportunity to reaffirm their continental dominance and secure a return to the Olympic stage after recent mixed fortunes in global competitions.
The Super Falcons, nine-time African champions, are expected to be among the top seeds when the draw is conducted, a factor that could influence their early-round opponents.
Wednesday’s ceremony in Cairo will therefore provide clarity on the fixtures, timelines and potential hurdles facing Nigeria and other contenders as the road to Los Angeles officially begins.
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