Tokyo
Olympics scheduled in the summer of 2020 have been moved to 2021
Japanese
prime minister Shinzo Abe confirmed plans for a one-year delay, in a conference
call with Games chiefs on Tuesday due to the coronavirus crisis.
“If I’m
asked whether we can hold the Olympics at this point in time, I would have to
say that the world is not in such a situation. I want the Tokyo Games to be
held in a complete form where all the countries can attend,”
“If we
cannot hold it in a complete way, I think I have no choice but to decide to
postpone it,” said Abe.
International
Olympics Committee (IOC) member Dick Pound revealed on Monday night a decision
has been made to postpone Tokyo 2020.
Reports show
that IOC had planned for a four-week deadline to decide on the best course of
action, ruling out the Olympics altogether.
This sparked
a backlash from athletes risking their health by training for the scheduled
July start — and led to Britain, Canada and Australia warning they would not
send teams this summer.
Britain then
threatened to join Canada and Australia in boycotting the Olympics if they went
ahead as scheduled in July despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Source:
Daily Mail
