International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach admitted on Friday that the Northern Hemisphere Summer Olympics will have to be cancelled in August due to global warming.
“Experts expect that it will be very difficult to organize the Games in August,” the IOC President emphasized during a meeting with journalists in Paris, dedicated to summing up the results of the Games in the French capital.
Asked about the IOC’s willingness to change the dates of the Games so that Middle Eastern countries can host them, as happened with the 2022 Qatar World Cup, which will be held in November and December rather than in the summer months due to the high temperatures that this region experiences in the summer, Hermann Bach said that the need to change the dates of the Games is being analyzed, but due to climate change.
“We talked about this issue of dates, but not because of these countries, but because of climate change,” the leader said, recalling that the Tokyo 2020 marathon had to be relocated due to the heat.
“In Paris, the start time of the marathon was also adapted. The question of dates will have to be studied by us, but not only by us,” he warned, stressing that “the entire calendar of sports competitions must be adapted to climate change.”
And he warned that the same would apply to the Winter Games, with 2023 having already announced that global warming would mean no more than ten countries would be able to host the event from 2040 onwards.
“If we look at the possibility of exploring other dates, the answer is yes, but it has nothing to do with which countries can host the Games,” the official confirmed.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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