'Need a decision': Roger Federer takes aim over $26 billion chaos

Roger Federer says it's time athletes received answers from Olympic officials as the Tokyo 2021 Games approach amid virus uncertainty.

Japan has extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas until the end of May as the country battles a surge in COVID-19 cases.

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The crisis has raised new questions about whether the rescheduled July 23-August 8 Games should go ahead, which has reportedly cost Japan a staggering $26 billion.

Only last week, Rafael Nadal raised fresh doubts over whether he would participate at the Tokyo Olympic Games during the pandemic.

This was after Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka raised doubts about their participation.

Now Federer has weighed-in on the controversy and called for officials to give athletes more certainty as the Games approach.

“Honestly I don’t know what to think. I’m a bit between the two,” Federer, who won a doubles gold in the 2008 Beijing Games and a silver in singles four years later in London, told Swiss television station Leman Bleu on Friday.

“I would love to play in the Olympics, win a medal for Switzerland. It would make me especially proud. But if it doesn’t happen because of the situation, I would be the first to understand.

“I think what the athletes need is a decision: is it going to happen or is it not going to happen?

“At the moment, we have the impression that it will happen. We know it’s a fluid situation. And you can also decide as an athlete if you want to go. If you feel there’s a lot of resistance, maybe it’s better not to go. I don’t know.”

Federer joins Nadal's Olympic worries

Nadal, who won singles gold in Beijing in 2008 and added a doubles title in Rio eight years later, said he is yet to firm up his plans on travelling to Tokyo.

"I don't know yet. Honestly I can't give you a clear answer because I don't know. I don't know my calendar," Nadal told a news conference at the Italian Open in Rome.

"In a normal world I'll never think about missing Olympics. There's no doubt about that.

"Everybody knows how important it has been for me to always play in the Olympics.

"Under these circumstances, I don't know. Let's see what's going on in the next couple of months.

"I need to organise my schedule... In a normal year, I know my schedule almost 100 per cent from January 1 until the end of the season."

with Reuters

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