The International Olympic Committee (IOC), The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee have unveiled a playbook outlining measures to deliver a safe and successful Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games.
The Playbook, the first of a series to be published, provides a framework of basic principles which stakeholders should follow before they travel to Japan. The playbooks are the official, centralized source of information for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The first version will be updated with more detail over the coming months, as the global situation relating to COVID-19 becomes clearer.
The first playbook, published on Wednesday, addresses logistical issues concerning International Federations and Technical officials. Other playbooks concerning Athletes, media and broadcasters will be published in the coming days.
Concerning COVID-19, vaccine is not a major part of the plan, though the IOC is encouraging athletes and officials to be vaccinated before they travel to Japan. However, in this first edition, stakeholders will find many of the standards as commonly accepted key health countermeasures currently being implemented around the globe, relating to personal hygiene, testing and tracing.
Furthermore, the Playbook outlines a journey for stakeholders, beginning with measures starting 14 days before arriving in Japan to testing before departure and upon arrival in the country. In addition, smart phone applications will be used to report health, and support contact tracing during the Games. Measures will also be in place to identify, isolate and treat any potential positive cases.
Speaking about the playbooks release, the IOC Olympic Games Executive director Christophe Dubi said “The health and safety of everyone at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 is our top priority.”
Tokyo 2020 Games Delivery Officer, Hidemasa Nakamura, said the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the daily lives of people around the world, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games need to adapt accordingly. Apart from that, safety and security have become everyone’s top priority.
In this regard, Tokyo 2020, the IOC and the IPC have jointly published individual Playbooks for each stakeholder, outlining the rules to be followed by participants of all games. The Playbooks were created from the perspective of the participants themselves, based on the interim summary that was published at the coordination meeting for COVID-19 counter measures last December.
They include not only specific measures that need to be taken, but also details the rules that need to be observed and the appointment of a single person to oversee COVID-19 counter measures in each stakeholder group to ensure effectiveness.
The playbooks will be updated to a second edition this spring as the situation changes.
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