Visa Continues Backing 96 Olympians Despite Tokyo 2020 Delay

Visa has taken the noble decision to extend the backing of its extensive global roster of Olympic and Paralympic athletes into 2021 after the postponement of Tokyo 2020.

Following the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to reschedule the Games until next year – in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic – there had been concerns as to whether Visa would continue to sponsor athletes beyond 2020.

But now the Team Visa initiative – which features 96 athletes across 27 sports, including India’s badminton star PV Sindhu and Japanese surfer Kanoa Igarashi – will continue through the rescheduled Games. Athletes were contacted on 27th March and given the option of extending their sponsorship terms with Visa.

It is the first significant commitment by a major sponsor to extend support after the delay to the Olympics and Paralympics. IOC president Thomas Bach had already confirmed that all Tokyo 2020 sponsors will retain their rights for the event.

“We elected to stand behind our roster of Team Visa athletes and make sure they knew affirmatively we were planning to do so and that we were going to offer to extend our relationship with them into 2021,” Chris Curtin, Visa’s chief brand and innovation marketing officer, told the Associated Press.

“They’re all dealing with how do they maintain their training schedules, discipline and focus at the same time they’re dealing with what’s happening with their families and their loved ones. One thing that we wanted to do as Visa was to take one potential point of ambiguity and maybe concern off their plates, because there should be none.”

The Tokyo Olympics will now take place between July 23 and August 8 next year, the IOC has confirmed. The Paralympic Games will take place between August 24 to September 5, 2021.