UNGA calls for Olympic Truce implementation for Tokyo Games

UNITED NATIONS - The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Monday adopted a resolution calling for the implementation of Olympic Truce for the Tokyo Games in 2020.

The resolution, entitled "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal", urged UN member states to observe the Olympic Truce "individually and collectively", throughout the period from the seventh day before the start of the Olympic Games until the seventh day following the end of the Paralympic Games.

In particular, it called for ensuring the safe passage, access and participation of athletes, officials and all other accredited persons taking part in the Games, and contributing to the safe organization of the games.

Further, the resolution decided that the 76th session of the UNGA, set to start in September 2021, should discuss similar matters for the Olympic Winter Games and the Paralympic Winter Games to be held in Beijing in 2022.

The resolution's draft was presented to the General Assembly by Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori.

Mori said what he has learned through sport has been sustaining his political career and life all along. "By making the impossible possible in sports, our hope is that wars will disappear from the globe not only during the Olympic Games but forever."

If leaders are courageous enough to openly share their opinions, he said, no matter how difficult it may be, agreements could replace fighting.

He further said the Tokyo Games is committed to the UN sustainable development goals, noting that the medals are made from recycled metals extracted from small electronic devices. Part of the materials for the relay torch is recycled aluminum from the prefabricated housing units following the 2011 tsunami, and the ceremony podiums will be made with recycled plastic, including marine plastic waste, according to the president.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, for his part, said when Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games 125 years ago, he saw it as a way to promote peace among all nations and peoples. "If there is a true symbol of peace in our world, it is the Olympic spirit."

He noted in Tokyo 2020, the world will see some 1,100 athletes from 206 Olympic committees and the IOC refugee Olympic team united, competing in sport but living peacefully together in the Olympic village.

In order to achieve global solidarity and true universality, he said, the IOC and the Olympic Games must be politically neutral. "We can only accomplish our mission to unite the world if the Olympic Games stand above and beyond any and all political differences."

"Our political neutrality goes hand in hand with the autonomy of sport," he stressed.