The CEO of the Japanese technology giant Softbank, Masayoshi Son, criticizes the Tokyo Olympic Games

The CEO of the Japanese technology giant Softbank, Masayoshi Son, has criticized the celebration of the Tokyo Olympic Games for the risk they pose to public health and the economy, through social media.

Son, founder of the largest capitalized company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, has criticized the Japanese authorities and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for their insistence on carrying out the Games despite the pandemic, like some of the leaders of other influential companies in the country.

"Currently, more than 80% of people want the Games to be canceled or postponed. Who, and with what authority, is forcing them to be organized?" asked Son on the eve on his Twitter account, referring to surveys that show a majority rejection by the Japanese of the Games.

The businessman also pointed out that the arrival of over 100,000 athletes and committee representatives from around the world to Japan - a country where only 5.5% of the target population has been vaccinated - could cause the spread of new strains of the virus, "the loss of human lives," and "the decline of GDP."

For all these reasons, Son indicated that Japan "has much more to lose" if it decides to continue with the Games than if it cancels them.

Son's comments come a week after Japanese billionaire and owner of the e-commerce giant Rakuten, Hiroshi Mikitani, described the Tokyo Olympic Games as a "suicide mission" in an interview with the American network CNN.

Prior to this, the Japanese motor leader and one of the main Olympic sponsors, Toyota, expressed their "concern" about the celebration of the Games during a pandemic and its possible impact on athletes and Japanese citizens.

In addition to these criticisms from figures in the private sector and popular rejection, the country's main doctors' union has submitted a request to the government to cancel the sporting event, with less than two months until its inauguration and while Tokyo and other major regions of the country are under a state of emergency due to the resurgence of COVID-19 infections.

None of this seems to influence the plans of the IOC and the organizing committee to move forward with the Games, which, according to them, will have all possible sanitary measures, including isolating athletes and banning the entry of foreign spectators to Japan. EFE