IOC President and new Japanese Prime Minister Suga “determined” to deliver safe Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
President Bach had his first meeting with the new Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, in Tokyo on Monday.
With just nine months to go until the postponed Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the two leaders met at the Prime Minister’s official residence, the Kantei.
During the meeting, both leaders announced their determination to stage safe and secure Olympic Games next year.
Prime Minister Suga assured President Bach, "Our determination is to realise successful and secure Tokyo Games next summer as proof that humanity has defeated the virus."
President Bach added, "We share the great commitment of the Prime Minister that the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will happen next year. We are determined that safe Olympic Games will be a symbol of solidarity and unity."
President Bach added, "We have a toolbox of measures against the Covid virus, and together with our Japanese friends and partners we will make sure that these Games will be a light at the end of the dark tunnel in which we find ourselves."
Later, the IOC President met the Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike. She told him, "We are strongly determined, together with the IOC, to stage safe and secure Olympic Games. We will not only achieve cost reductions but also leave a new model for future generations of how the Games can be organised."
Before attending the Project Review at the headquarters of the Tokyo2020 Organising Committee, President Bach was at the Japanese Olympic Museum, where he awarded the former Prime Minister, Abe Shinzo, the Olympic Order in Gold.
President Bach praised the former Prime Minister for his dedication to the Olympic Movement.
"With your unfaltering belief in the power of sport, it is no exaggeration to say that you have forged a special friendship with the Olympic community."
The President will visit the Olympic Village and the Olympic Stadium and meet a number of athletes during his stay in Japan.