The exercise has become familiar to them, but the Japanese continue to fear the ritual. For the sixth time, Tokyo welcomes the members of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Summer Games in 2020. The visit begins Tuesday July 10 with the crow of the rooster. It should last a little less than three days. It comes 745 days before the opening ceremony.
Two notable absentees from the ranks of the IOC delegation: Lydia Nsekera and Sebastian Coe. The Burundian, also a member of the FIFA executive committee, is in Russia for the Football World Cup. The Briton, for his part, is busy with a wealth of athletic news, marked this week by the Under-20 World Championships in Tampere, Finland.
On paper, this new inspection tour promises to be uneventful. The IOC delegation, led by John Coates, the president of the coordination commission, has little left to discover from a Japanese organization launched at its cruising speed.
Both will discuss ticketing, some details of which the Japanese press has already revealed. There is nothing explosive about the subject, it does not seem likely to stir up tempers. There should also be discussion of the progress of work on the Olympic sites. Here too, the trains are now arriving on time, after a long period of bad weather.
Finally, the Japanese organizers will reveal how the Games mascots will have their first crowd bath. It is scheduled for Sunday July 22 in Hibiya, a district of Tokyo. The mascots are expected for a maritime parade on the Sumida River. Nice. The IOC should appreciate it.
A polite visit, then? A polite and hushed exchange? Not sure. Since their last stay in Tokyo last December, the Lausanne envoys have almost all visited Bangkok in April for SportAccord. A traditional meeting of the Olympic movement where the Japanese were attacked like a corner by a handful of international federations.
Sailing was concerned about a delay of a good year in preparing the site for future Olympic regattas. The triathlon has very publicly expressed its concern about the level of pollution of the water where the swimming portion will be contested. Judo has accused the organizing committee of obstructing the use of the 2019 Worlds in Tokyo as a pre-Olympic event. Baseball and softball have expressed some reservations about the tournament format of the 2020 Games.
Obviously, the Japanese did not expect to receive such a barrage of questions and criticism when they went to Bangkok for SportAccord 2018. They were not prepared for it. It is generally agreed that they did not know how to find the words to calm the spirits. Before leaving Thailand, John Coates warned them that in future they would need to be less evasive when answering questions from international federations.
Almost three months have passed. The Japanese prepared this sixth visit of the coordination commission as they would have done for the first. They are ready. They have no other choice.
