OREANDA-NEWS. IOC member Richard Pound said in an interview with Kyodo agency that the Olympic Games, which are to be held this summer in Tokyo, will not be canceled, but foreign fans may not be allowed there.

According to the oldest member of the International Olympic Committee, there is no reason not to host the Olympics, so the IOC does not intend to cancel the most anticipated world sporting event.

At the same time, Pound supported the idea of holding the Games without foreign audiences, calling it “definitely one of the options”. He also did not rule out that if necessary, the Olympic torch relay, which is to begin on March 25 in Fukushima, will be canceled.

The IOC member stressed that "if it is considered that the risk is too high, the scale of the Olympics can always be reduced, and if necessary, then canceled."

Pound expressed the opinion that the final decision on whether or not to hold the Olympics may not be made in March, as planned, but later. "March is the end of winter and this is a bad season in terms of the spread of viral diseases. And in April and May it will be better. This gives rise to hope," he explained.

The IOC and the Tokyo Games organizing committee at the end of March last year announced the postponement of the Summer Olympics to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021.