OREANDA-NEWS. The Organizing Committee of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo should guarantee security from the new coronavirus during the competition until May.

This was stated by Richard Pound, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in an interview with the Associated Press. If guarantees are not received, the Games will be canceled, he said. “You could certainly go to two months out if you had to,” Pound said. He added that “a lot of things have to start happening. You’ve got to start ramping up your security, your food, the Olympic Village, the hotels…”

Pound called the coronavirus epidemic a “new war.” According to him, insecurity is a serious problem, and any step by the IOC should be consulted with the World Health Organization, as well as with the United Nations. He also noted that the transfer of the Olympics to another country is unlikely, since there are few places in the world where objects needed for competitions can be prepared in a short space of time.