Japan appeals to Azerbaijan for support on hosting Olympic Games

1 February 2021 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

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By Laman Ismayilova

Japan has applied for support in holding the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to countries with extensive organizational experience.

The appeal made by the Secretary General of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan Katsunobu Kato called for sending to Japan the human resources of countries with extensive experience in holding sports competitions.

In response to the appeal, the Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov noted that Azerbaijan has successfully hosted the first European Games in 2015, the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games in 2017, Formula 1 and European Youth Olympics 2019.

The Minister emphasized the possibility of Azerbaijan’s support at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with its experienced human resources.

"Azerbaijan is a country with considerable experience in both technical and organizational issues in terms of holding sports competitions. Azerbaijan has a database of employees working on all these prestigious events, and accordingly, our experts will be presented to the Japanese side in relevant fields," the Minister said.

"Now we have local staff working in sports competitions in the fields of technology, transport, management of sports venues, volunteer work, etc., and they are regularly invited to various international competitions, successfully implementing their knowledge and experience," he added.

The 2020 Summer Olympics is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to be held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

Originally due to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the event was postponed in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite being rescheduled for 2021, the Games have retained the "Tokyo 2020" name for marketing and branding purposes.

This is the first time that the Olympic Games have been postponed and rescheduled, rather than cancelled.

Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 7 September 2013.

The 2020 Games will mark the second time that Japan—and specifically Tokyo—has hosted the Summer Olympic Games, the first being in 1964, making it the first city in Asia to host the Summer Olympics twice.

Overall, these will be the fourth Olympic Games to be held in Japan, which also hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972 (Sapporo) and 1998 (Nagano).

The 2020 Games will also be the second of three consecutive Olympics to be held in East Asia, the first being in Pyeongchang County, South Korea in 2018, and the next in Beijing, China in 2022.

The 2020 Games will see the introduction of new competitions including 3x3 basketball, freestyle BMX, and madison cycling, as well as further mixed events.

Under new IOC policies, which allow the host organizing committee to add new sports to the Olympic programme to augment the permanent core events, these Games will see karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding make their Olympic debuts, as well as the return of baseball and softball for the first time since 2008.

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