Tokyo Olympics could be deferred to end of 2020 on COVID-19

March 4, 2020 (MLN): The Tokyo Olympics could be delayed until the end of 2020 in an attempt to halt the outbreak of COVID-19.

At this time, The Olympics will be held from 24^th July to 9th August 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.

Olympic minister Seiko Hashimoto said to lawmakers that the agreement between Japan and The International Olympic Committee (IOC) potentially permits Japan to postpone the Games taking place. 'We are doing all we can to ensure that the Games go ahead as planned,' Hashimoto told parliament. Whereas the IOC president, Thomas Bach persisted that athletes must continue their preparation with full enthusiasm.

It is worth to highlight that any decision regarding the postponement of Games ultimately belongs to the IOC.

IOC executive board is determined to staging Olympics on a given time frame considering the measures taken so far to address the COVID-19 outbreak.

“The IOC will continue to follow the advice of WHO, as the leading United Nations agency on this topic”, read a statement.