The sporting world already reeling by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has been dealt with an even worse blow. The revelation that they now have to cater for 500 countries, most definitely requires a paradigm shift in the sporting world.
All recent proposals and suggestions made by high powered sports think-tanks are now headed to the trash bins as the sporting fraternity grapples with the an unprecedented sporting scenario.
The hardest hit by this new turn of event is the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In a joint statement, the International Olympic (IOC) and the organising committee of Tokyo 2020, said that they may need to look at postponing the games by at least another three years.
“More than double of the current budget of USD 16 billion, is needed with the increased number of countries. Paris has already confirmed they would not be able to realistically host a 500 nation Olympiad and we are now in discussion with Japan to host the Games in 2004,” said the statement.
The IOC also claimed that a complete review of the selection processes for the Olympics need to be made in the near future.
“We cannot simply host the Games without the participation of 50% of the existing countries. We would like to thank the whistleblower from Malaysia in helping us getting to the root of the 250 odd discriminated nations,” said a senior IOC member.
He added that the IOC was also in discussion with the various International Federations on the selection process that would include the various countries that were left out of the process for decades.
One major proposal being considered for athletics and swimming is to increase the number of lanes for competitions from the current eight lanes to 16.
This, however, would require additional budget from all nations to upgrade their existing swimming pools and tracks. As the upgrading may take a minimum of two years, both federations are looking to start their selection process for the Olympics only in 2023.
It was also good news from the various team sports including football, hockey, handball, volleyball and basketball. Most of these events have proposed to discard their current game formats and start three-sided formats. With three teams taking part in each match, they believe they could conclude the selection process on time.
“Imagine Brazil, Argentina and Germany playing each other in a single match. Or a mouthwatering match between USA, Iran and North Korea. The possibility of classic matches are just too many,” said a FIFA official.
There is also a proposal to merge all existing martial arts events into one. At the proposals of US president Donald Trump, the IOC has appointed WWE’s Vince McMahon to review and come out with a much more entertaining and combined martial arts events for the Olympics.
It is reliably learnt that one of the ideas that McMahon was seriously considering the Royal Rumble with at least 50 exponents from various martials arts fighting it out in each caged match.
The IOC also confirmed that they were also looking into the possibility of including several other new sports as proposed by Malaysia.
Top on the list for inclusion are Warm Water Drinking, Hair Styling and Make-up Contest and Social Distancing Partying for the Elite.
With esports being included for the first time, the Bang Bang Mobile Legends will be dropped and replaced by the more popular Tik Tok Dancing.
The IOC is also looking to create a special promotional campaign for Tokyo 2024. For starters, both the IOC and Japan have agreed to replace the existing Games mascot Miraitowa with Doraemon.
“The Doraemon is a Japanese cultural icon and deserves the status,” said the IOC statement.
The decision was also spurred by the social campaign that started in Malaysia with the hashtag #doraemonforolympics trending worldwide in recent weeks.
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