POSTED: August 12th 2012

NewsUpdate

Tokyo 2020: Japanese government creates strategic liaisons in London

LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications

August 12 – A group of senior officials from the Japanese government has made good use of the London 2012 Games to promote sports and build on the effort to bring the Games back to Tokyo for 2020. The delegation met with a number of international counterparts building momentum for the bid as well as for a number of sports events coming up in Japan.

Hirofumi Hirano, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Tokyo 2020 Special Advisor, met with Australia’s Minister of Sports Kate Lundy and they agreed to continue the bilateral active agreement that they both benefit from.

This agreement particularly focuses on the upcoming 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia and the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan as well as their common dedication to promote anti-doping in line with the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) guidelines.

Hirano met with Argentina’s Sports Secretary Claudio Morresi and they both discussed and agreed to promote sports exchanges between their two countries.

He said, “I was able to share my thoughts on Tokyo 2020 through the meetings with Australia’s Minister of Sports and Argentina’s Sports Secretary, in addition to exchanging ideas with 20 or more ministers from around the world.

“The Opening Ceremony was truly impressive and the audience was excited together as one.

“I look forward to giving everything I can to bring the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games to Tokyo.”

Tenzo Okumura, Minister in charge of Sports, had discussions with Wilfried Lemke, Special Advisor to Secretary General of United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP).

Okumura and Lemke reaffirmed their common dedication to promote sports for peace building and social development and the advice from the UN was very fruitful. In 2011, Japan’s “Basic Act on Sport” was revamped for the first time in 50 years in order to increase the role of sports in society domestically and internationally.

In his capacity as a WADA Executive Committee Member, Okumura also paid a visit to the UK anti-doping center that is managing the testing for the London 2012 Games and met the chairman, David Kenworthy, and the ceo, Andy Parkinson.

Both parties agreed on the key role that governments play in the fight against doping and reached an accord about the ongoing role that Japan will carry out to support anti-doping activities in Asia and WADA’s global position.

Tokyo is bidding to host the summer Games of 2020 and is running against Istanbul and Madrid. The final decision will be voted in Buenos Aires, Argentina on September 7, 2013.

Keywords · Tokyo 2020 · London 2012 · Hirofumi Hirano · Tenzo Okumura

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