IOC President Thomas Bach inquired members of the Olympic body at its session in Buenos Aires to support the establishment of a refugee team, along the lines of the one that competed at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. The members responded with applause.
Refugees will take part in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday said it would form a refugee team for the second consecutive Summer Games.
“So you have created the refugee Olympic team, Tokyo 2020,” Bach said.
The German said the IOC had already identified a pool of more than 50 refugee athletes and it was necessary to keep the world aware of the plight of the tens of millions of refugees around the world.
“Through sport we want to make a contribution to keep the world aware of this problem and this challenge and that it does not disappear from the conscience of the world, and send another signal of hope to these refugees.”
There were no details yet on the final size or makeup of the team but Bach said the pool of potential athletes for the team could grow more.
“Last time (for Rio) we were under very high time pressure. Now we have two years. We have already taken precaution… and we have a pool of athletes in place. Already now we’re supporting 51 or 52 refugee athletes who we have identified,” Bach said.
“This pool can still grow in the run-up to Tokyo 2020. It is too early to say how many will finally make it.”
The IOC unveiled its first team of refugees in an effort to raise awareness of the issue and it was one of the feel-good stories of the Rio Olympics.
The 10-member team from Syria, Congo, Ethiopia and South Sudan hogged the spotlight after marching as the penultimate team before host nation Brazil in the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic stadium.
The athletes took part in athletics, swimming and judo.
The IOC had said last year it was considering forming such a team again for the Tokyo Games and has continued to support the athletes who took part in Rio.
