THE fate of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games remains unclear after the global show piece was forced to be rescheduled to later this year due to the rampant COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2019 all over the world.

Debates are ongoing whether this sporting event should go ahead or be cancelled or at least postponed again for fear of the spread of the deadly virus.
South African media reported on Thursday that the president of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee has ruled out a cancellation or further postponement of the games.
The Sowetan daily tabloid ran a story saying that public opinion polls in Japan show that most people want the competition cancelled or put off yet again after being delayed for a year owing to the pandemic.

The same sentiments were shared by a Tokyo paper called Shimbun newspaper.

But athlete turned politician and organising committee president Seiko Hashimoto said: “We cannot postpone again”.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is likely to call a snap election after the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Asahi newspaper reported, showing his resolve to push ahead with the event.
Foreign spectators have already been barred from the games, and officials are undecided if Japanese fans will be allowed into venues.
Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura pointed out on Thursday that excited fans, shouting and hugging could pose a contagion risk.
Towns and cities set to host Olympic training or events have increasingly expressed misgivings, amid concern visitors will spread variant strains of the virus and drain medical resources.
The government of Ota City has been inundated with complaints by residents over a decision to give preferential Covid-19 vaccinations to city and hotel staff tending to Australian athletes, media reported.
The city, about 80km (50 miles) northwest of Tokyo, is the site of a training camp for Australia's softball squad, which this week became the first national team to arrive in Japan.
Kurume City in the southern prefecture of Fukuoka pulled out of hosting Kenya's pre-Olympics training camp, the African nation's Olympics committee said on Wednesday.
A player on Ghana's Under-24 team tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in Japan for a friendly match, the Japan Football Association (JFA) said on Thursday. And in Taiwan, the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association said it was pulling out of Olympic qualifier games in Mexico amid infection concerns.
Japan is battling a fourth wave of Covid-19 eight weeks out from the scheduled start of the Games, but the country's vaccine rollout has been slow and 10 regions including Tokyo are under a state of emergency until June 20.
While Japan has avoided the large-scale infections suffered by many other nations, severe cases are rising in the latest outbreak. More than 746 000 cases have been recorded and more than 13 000 deaths.
Shigeru Omi, Japan's top medical adviser, has become more vocal about concerns that he and other medical experts have about staging the Games.