Coronavirus pandemic: Japan's Deputy PM highlights 40-year cycle of 'cursed Olympics' as COVID-19 threatens Tokyo Games

Tokyo: First, the cancellation in 1940. Then, the mass boycott in Moscow in 1980. [caption id=“attachment_4495091” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Taro Aso. Reuters.[/caption] Forty years on, the upcoming Tokyo Games are the “cursed Olympics” once again, Japan’s finance minister said, in remarks that could stir controversy at a time when his government is scrambling to quash speculation that the coronavirus epidemic could derail the world’s biggest sporting event this year. “It’s a problem that’s happened every 40 years - it’s the cursed Olympics - and that’s a fact,” Taro Aso, who also serves as deputy prime minister, said in a parliamentary committee on Wednesday. Japan had won the bid to host the Summer and Winter Olympics in 1940 - in Tokyo and Sapporo, respectively - but both Games were cancelled due to the Second World War. A close ally of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a former premier himself, Aso is known for his staying power despite his penchant for gaffes that have insulted people, including doctors, women and Alzheimer’s patients, over the decades. **Follow LIVE updates on coronavirus pandemic here** Abe has staked his legacy as the longest-serving Japanese leader on staging a successful Games and bringing a massive jolt - estimated at $2.3 billion - to the stagnant economy with tourism and consumer spending. But every passing day of the new coronavirus pandemic has brought more calls for a rethink of this year’s Games, scheduled to open on 24 July. The International Olympic Committee, along with Tokyo’s organising committee and Japanese government, has said it is not considering a cancellation or postponement , even as other major events have been postponed, including, on Tuesday, football’s  Euro 2020 and **Copa America** . The new coronavirus has so far killed more than 8,200 people and infected more than 200,000, with the epicentre now in Europe. Japan saw 40 new infections on Wednesday for a total of 1,629 cases, including about 700 from a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo last month, Kyodo News reported.