IPC president vows to deliver safe Paralympic Games

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Andrew Parsons made certain here on Monday that a safe Paralympic Games will be delivered, less than one day before the official opening of the Tokyo Paralympics, reported Xinhua.

"As you can imagine the last 18 months have been very tough on the International Paralympic Committee and international Paralympic movement," Parsons said.

"A lot of uncertainty right after the postponement of these Games and how we could deliver these Games in a safe way, how we could deliver these Games and count on the participation of athletes from around the world."

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Japan has reached a record high for several consecutive days since the number of the confirmed cases exceeded 20,000 for the first time on June 13.

"We do understand of course the rise in the numbers of cases in Tokyo, in Japan, but we do not believe that there is cause-effect relationship between the fact that we are here for the Paralympics and the numbers rising in Japan," said Parsons.

"One of the questions I am asked very often is, 'can we have safe Games?' and the answer is yes, we would not be here if we did not believe we could deliver safe Games," the IPC president assured.

The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee (TOCOG) president Seiko Hashimoto also made clear that strict epidemic control and prevention measures will be implemented.

"We will be taking further measures for the Paralympics in addition to what we did for the Olympics," Hashimoto said. "For example, the testing system will be reinforced. Stakeholders from overseas will be asked to stick to the same rules even after their 14 days [quarantine] have passed."

"We need is stringent anti-COVID measures. We need to protect the athletes and the stakeholders from COVID-19. That is the top priority toward a successful Paralympic Games."

The opening ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympic Games will kick off on the evening of August 24.