IOC's Bach confident of hosting spectators at Games after meeting Japan PM

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VIDEO SHOWS: INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) PRESIDENT THOMAS BACH MEETING WITH JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER YOSHIHIDE SUGA, SOUNDBITES FROM SUGA AND BACH, BACH SPEAKING TO REPORTERS AFTER MEETING

RESENDING VIDEO WITH EXTRA SOUNDBITE - PLEASE SEE SHOT 14 / AND RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS:

TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 16, 2020) (JAPAN POOL - NO USE JAPAN)

1. PRIME MINISTER YOSHIHIDE SUGA WEARING FACE MASK WALKING TO IOC PRESIDENT THOMAS BACH WEARING FACE MASK/ SUGA AND BACH GREETING EACH OTHER BY FIST BUMPING

2. SUGA AND BACH FIST BUMPING AND POSING FOR PHOTOS

3. IOC OFFICIALS SEATED/JAPANESE OFFICIALS SEATED

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER, YOSHIHIDE SUGA, SAYING:

"Next summer, as proof that human beings have overcome the virus, and also to show the world that Japan has been recovering from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami -- as the "Recovery Olympics and Paralympics" -- we are determined that we will realise the Tokyo Olympics. We will work closely with the IOC President and make our best efforts to carry out a safe Olympics."

5. BACH (LEFT) AND SUGA (RIGHT) SEATED

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC PRESIDENT, THOMAS BACH, SAYING:

"We can and will make these Olympic games as a great symbol of solidarity and unity of humanity in this world, which by then will hopefully be a post-coronavirus world."

7. BACH AND SUGA SEATED

8. BACH WALKING TO REPORTERS

9. WHITE FLASH

10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC PRESIDENT, THOMAS BACH, SAYING:

"We are putting a really huge toolbox together in which we will put all the different measures we can imagine, so that next year at the appropriate time we will be able to take the right tools out of this tool box, and apply them in order to ensure a safe environment for all participants in the Games."

11. WHITE FLASH

12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC PRESIDENT, THOMAS BACH, SAYING:

"In order to protect the Japanese people, and out of respect for the Japanese people, the IOC will undertake a great effort so that as many as possible offer the Olympic participants and visitors will arrive here vaccinated if by then a vaccine is available."

13. WHITE FLASH

14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC PRESIDENT, THOMAS BACH, SAYING:

"This makes us also very, very confident that we can have spectators then, in the Olympic Stadium next year, and that also the spectators, will ensure a safe environment."

15. WHITE FLASH

16. BACH THANKING MEDIA AND LEAVING

STORY: International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach is "very, very confident" that spectators can attend next year's postponed Games, he said on Monday (November 16), after a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga where the two bumped fists in greeting.

As president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Bach is visiting Japan for two days of meetings with Games organizers to discuss countermeasures against the coronavirus and other issues.

The visit is his first to the Japanese capital since Bach and former prime minister Shinzo Abe decided in March to postpone the Games to 2021 because of virus risks.

Suga and Bach spoke through white surgical masks at Monday's meeting. Suga, who succeeded Abe in September, reiterated his commitment to hosting the Games, saying he looked forward to working closely with Bach and the IOC on the preparations. Bach told reporters that game organizers in Japan and the IOC would contribute to hosting a safe event.

(Production: Akira Tomoshige, Rikako Maruyama, Akiko Okamoto)