The Olympic Games may be in full flow over in Japan but a surprising number of people seem to believe they shouldn’t be happening at all.

Maybe not the majority, but there is a significant amount of commentators who think this spectator-less, COVID-disrupted event is an abomination that betrays the entire Olympic concept.

At face value, it is easy to see where this opinion comes from. Having no fans in any of the stadia is making it feel clinical and tame. What is usually a passionate and boisterous affair is a pale imitation of its usual self.

More pertinently, some top athletes have been ruled out because of quarantine requirements, while others have actually caught the virus, shattering their dreams and devaluing the competition still further. It’s not a fight to be the best of the best if some of the best are stuck in the room having food slipped under the door.

But regardless of these negatives – and numerous others that have been intermittently raised during the games – I am still very much in the ‘show must go on’ camp. It had to.

Yes, the circumstances are far from perfect. Incredibly far from perfect, to be honest. But there is one thing and one thing only that makes me believe cancelling the Tokyo games entirely would have been unthinkable ­– the athletes.

If someone has spent four (and then ultimately five) years preparing for a single moment in their life, taking that moment away from them would have been soul destroying and mentally devastating.

It’s not like the Olympics come round all the time. Years and years of hard work and dedication would have been for nothing. And waiting another three years for the next opportunity would have meant, especially for the older athletes or those struggling financially, the end of their Olympic dream.

There was an argument for delaying them by another year. And that might have been a more palatable option all round, allowing the world more time to recover from the pandemic. But another 12 months of delay would probably have been a year too far for a good number of athletes.

It’s not the games we wanted ‒ it has little of the traditional magic associated with the world’s biggest sporting event ‒ but, ultimately, it was right for the International Olympic Committee to go ahead with the Tokyo Olympics.

However, there is one thing making my teeth itch about these games – the ‘Russian Olympic Committee’ team.

Just to recap, in 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) gave Russia a four-year ban from international sporting competitions over doping non-compliance. That was later reduced on appeal to two years, ending in December 2022.

Yet, despite this ban, over 300 of Russia’s athletes are still competing in Tokyo under the ROC flag, and doing rather well for themselves. In fact, at the time of writing, they are in a healthy fifth place in the medals table.

Exactly how big is the loophole that allowed this to happen? I mean, it must be rather large if it allows an entire country to slip through.

Let me be clear, those 300-plus athletes have had to prove beyond doubt that they had nothing to do with the doping scandal and, on that basis, I have absolutely no issue whatsoever with them competing in Tokyo.

No innocent athlete should have to suffer for the sins of a guilty athlete, or guilty governing body, and the honest, law-abiding competitors fully deserve their opportunity to fight for glory.

If someone spent four (and then five) years preparing for a single moment in their life, taking that moment away from them would have been soul destroying and mentally devastating

But they should be participating as independent athletes rather than as the ROC. Because, as it stands, the situation is making a mockery of WADA. It is making them look toothless and their punishments pointless.

What we have now is essentially Russia participating under a different name. Yes, there is no Russian national anthem for the winners and the Russian flag isn’t flying over the podiums. But everyone knows it is still, to all intents and purposes, Russia. The athletes are even dressed in the red, white and blue.

Let me be straight, I am not arguing the pros and cons of Russia’s ban. That’s not for me and my limited knowledge of the subject to determine. Maybe WADA was wrong to hand out the punishment in the first place and has subsequently felt a bit guilty. Who knows?

But if you do give a country a punishment, then that country shouldn’t be allowed to participate through the back door. That just sends out the wrong sort of message, which does little for WADA’s credibility among the sporting world.

Your say

Still a few post-Euro 2020 thoughts filtering through… and they seem to have a similar theme.

“The English team have one problem and one problem only, and that is Gareth Southgate. I have read how the English media have been heaping praise on him since they got to the final, and that is not helping the problem.

Southgate’s tactics were rubbish as he tried to play a system that was unfamiliar to the players – that of defending for long parts of the matches. With all those strikers and forwards at his disposal, he could have made a magnificent team full of attacking force. He tried to be too smart by playing like the Italian teams of old when he is not able to get his players to do that.

I am of the opinion that the praise he has received from the aforementioned media in the UK is due to two reasons. One: they have had such little success for so long; and two: because he is a nice guy. I don’t think either of those should be enough for him to keep his job.” Justin Sammut, e-mail.

“While I agree with most comments that Southgate should be commended for getting England to the final after so many futile attempts in the past, he got it all wrong in the final. His approach was too negative (even in the previous games, qualifying by the skin of their teeth).

Playing a style that the Italians used to play ages ago, and who are much better at it, was a big tactical mistake. Also, his substitutions were too few, too late. The English FA should set up a modern coach’s academy that includes foreign experienced coaches like they did for the players at St George’s Park, which was a success. In the meantime, if Southgate persists in this style of play, he should be changed for a foreign coach.

I suggest he watches Spain v Italy to learn how Spain were all over Italy by playing positive football, although they lacked good strikers, of which England has plenty.” Alfred Debono, e-mail.

e-mail: james@quizando.com

twitter: @maltablade