Thomas Bach says he and Japanese prime minister are ‘totally aligned’ in determination to make Tokyo 2021 a success

Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has said he is “very, very confident” that spectators will be able to attend next year’s Tokyo Olympics, describing the postponed Games as the “light at the end of the tunnel”.

Bach, who is visiting Japan for the first time since he and the then Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, agreed in March to delay Tokyo 2020 by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, told reporters that he and Abe’s successor, Yoshihide Suga, were “totally aligned” in their determination to make the event a success.

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