Kei Nishikori wonders about the possibility that the Olympics will take place with the current situation in Japan. – Bernat Armangue / AP / SIPA
After the Japanese Naomi Osaka on Sunday, her compatriot Kei Nishikori questioned Monday the possibility of organizing an effective health “bubble” during the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer. “I would say a little the same thing” as Naomi Osaka, who had pointed out Sunday the “uncomfortable” situation of Japan, affirmed Nishikori after his victory in the first round of the Masters 1000 of Rome against Fabio Fognini.
“I don’t know where the thinking about how to make a bubble is. It is not 100 people like these tournaments, but 10,000 people in the village, who play competitions. I don’t think it’s easy, especially with what’s going on in Japan right now, where things aren’t going well, and not just in Japan, all over the world, ”he said.
The current situation “puts people at risk”
“There are two, three months left so it’s really hard to say now. They should suspend (the decision) for now and decide before the Games. But now it’s really difficult, he added. If we only think of the athletes, we can do it I think, if we create an effective bubble. But there are risks too, the coronavirus spreads very easily… I would say like Naomi that we really have to discuss how we can play it safe. “
Osaka said on Sunday that the current situation “put people at risk” and put (them) “in a very uncomfortable position”. “So that should really be the subject of a discussion,” she added, while wishing for the “Games to take place, because I’m a sportswoman and that’s the kind of thing I’ve been waiting for all my life. life “.
More than 10,000 athletes from 200 countries are expected in Tokyo for the Games. A decision has yet to be made as to the presence of Japanese spectators.