Japanese tycoon Masayoshi Son warned of significant dangers around holding the Olympics in Tokyo, where the government on Monday kicked off a mass vaccination drive to catch up with other countries and ensure a “safe and secure” Games.
In a series of tweets, the influential SoftBank Group (9984.T) CEO expressed bewilderment and concern about the Tokyo Olympics, calling Japan a “vaccine laggard” and saying the slow inoculation drive less than two months before the start of the Games could put people’s lives at risk.
“Currently more than 80% of people want the Olympics to be postponed or cancelled. Who and on what authority is it being forced through?” the billionaire executive wrote in a Twitter post in Japanese over the weekend.
In a follow-up tweet late on Sunday, Son wrote: “Does the IOC (International Olympic Committee) have the power to decide that the Games would go ahead?
“There’s talk about a huge penalty (if the Games are cancelled). But if 100,000 people from 200 countries descend on vaccine-laggard Japan and the mutant variant spreads, lives could be lost, subsidies could result if a state of emergency is called, and gross domestic product could fall. If we consider what the public has to endure, I think we could have a lot more to lose.”
Son’s tweets followed comments on Friday from IOC Vice President John Coates that the games would “absolutely” go ahead even if Tokyo was under COVID-19 restrictions.
Earlier this month, Son said in a TV interview he was “afraid” of having the Olympics, partly due to the severity of the pandemic in some countries.
