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'IOC will prioritize athletes' safety': Indonesian Olympic Committee
“We believe in the IOC. They will prioritize the safety of the athletes."
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Indonesia's National Olympic Committee (NOC) chief Raja Sapta Oktohari speaks with journalists after attending the opening of the NOC annual meeting in Jakarta. (Tribunnews/Abdul Majid)
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mid mounting calls from the world's sports bodies and countries to postpone the Tokyo Olympics over the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) is continuing to back the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in its decision on whether or not the Summer Games will go ahead as planned.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused many major sporting events to be canceled, and many have raised concerns about the Olympic Games in Tokyo being held this July and August.
However, NOC Indonesia chief Raja Sapta "Okto" Oktohari told The Jakarta Post that his party did not want to speculate on the Olympics, adding that the NOC would not follow the lead of other countries that had announced their withdrawal from the event.
Read also: Postponing the Olympic Games: it's complicated
As of Tuesday, the United States, Canada and Australia had announced they would not send their teams to Tokyo. The US’ Olympic and Paralympic Committee followed the move by “calling on the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics” on Monday, Reuters reported.
“We believe in the IOC. We support them as we know that, with or without pressure from other parties, they would prioritize the safety of the athletes,” Okto told the Post on Tuesday.
Talk of postponing the games has been growing louder as one of the IOC’s senior members, Dick Pound, said his organization had decided to move the Games to 2021. However, IOC president Thomas Bach has not yet confirmed such a postponement.
