IOC VP Gets Backlash for Saying Olympics Are on, Virus or Not

TOKYO - If John Coates was trying to stir controversy, he succeeded.

An International Olympic Committee vice president, Coates was asked a few days ago by a Japanese reporter at an online news conference if the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead, even if a state of emergency were in force in Japan. Coates replied: “Absolutely, yes.” Coates said what the IOC and local organizers have been trying to persuade the Japanese public about for months: The postponed Olympics with 11,000 athletes from 200 nations and territories will open on July 23 and will be “safe and secure.”