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New York (tca\/dpa) – Veteran sportscaster Bob Costas says the Tokyo Olympics should be postponed.<\/p>\nNew York (tca\/dpa) – Veteran sportscaster Bob Costas says the Tokyo Olympics should be postponed.<\/p>\n
Appearing on HBO\u2019s \u201cReal Time with Bill Maher,\u201d the Emmy award-winning host said that the Games should still go on, but at a later date.<\/p>\n
The Games \u201cshould be postponed, not canceled,\u201d he told Maher.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they postponed it until the summer of 2022, then as a one-off it would go back to the way it was prior to the \u201990s,\u201d Costas said, noting that both the winter and summer used to take place every four years, in the same calendar year. After 1994, they changed into an every-two-years cycle.<\/p>\n
However, Costas continued, \u201cyou\u2019ve got to understand that the IOC (International Olympic Committee) holds all the cards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maher replied saying that, \u201cevery time I see their name in a headline, it\u2019s something shady.\u201d<\/p>\n
Costas, who was the main voice behind NBC\u2019s Olympics broadcasts from 1988 to 2016, said that the host wasn\u2019t wrong in thinking that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have an affinity for authoritarian regimes. They\u2019ll be back in Beijing for the Winter Olympics. They were in Sochi (Russia) in 2014. They were in Beijing in 2008,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The 69-year-old New York City-native noted that broadcasting such sports events required \u201ca particularly difficult tightrope walk for NBC,\u201d which has to work with these authoritarian regimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike other entities that cover it, the network that carries the Olympics or any sports event has invested a lot of money in the rights. And they want people to feel good about watching it,\u201d said Costas, whose new show \u201cBack on the Record with Bob Costas\u201d will premiere on HBO later this spring<\/p>\n
\u201cBut my feeling always was, you have to at least acknowledge the elephants in the room. I tried as best I could to tug on the other end of that rope. But they were always very very touchy about offending the IOC,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Originally planned for July and August 2020, the Tokyo Summer Olympics were postponed early last year. The multi-sport event is now scheduled to be held from July 23 to Aug. 8 \u2014 with no spectators from overseas.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, one of Japan\u2019s largest newspapers called for the cancellation of the Games.<\/p>\n
It is \u201csimply beyond reason to hold the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer,\u201d the Asahi Shimbun wrote in an explosive editorial published Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The announcement could potentially further complicate matters for the COVID-19-era Olympics, which are set to open in less than two months.<\/p>\n
Besides being one of the oldest newspapers in Asia, the Asahi is one of the country\u2019s four major dailies. With a reported morning circulation of 5.16 million, and 1.55 million for its evening edition, it is the country\u2019s \u2014 and the world\u2019s \u2014 second-largest circulating newspaper.<\/p>\n
The paper, which according to The Associated Press is seen as a liberal-leaning publication that often opposes the prime minister\u2019s ruling party, is also a sponsor of the Games.<\/p>\n
By Muri Assuncao, New York Daily News<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New York (tca\/dpa) – Veteran sportscaster Bob Costas says the Tokyo Olympics should be postponed. Appearing on HBO\u2019s \u201cReal Time with Bill Maher,\u201d the Emmy award-winning host said that the Games should still go on, but at a later date. The Games \u201cshould be postponed, not canceled,\u201d he told Maher. \u201cIf they postponed it until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1132184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1092697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualidad"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t