IOC, Japan agree to postpone Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Sports Tuesday 24/March/2020 21:25 PM
By: Times News Service
IOC, Japan agree to postpone Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Tokyo: The International Olympic Committee (IOC)and the Organizing Committee for the upcoming Olympic Games (Tokyo-2020) announced today a one year- official postponement of the activities of these games and to be held in 2021 due to the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in many countries of the world.

This is the first time since 1944 that an Olympic Games has been postponed, and it is also the first time in the history of the modern Olympics that has spanned over 124 years that an already scheduled games have been postponed.

Unlike the 1944 version that was not held because of the Second World War, two more versions (1916 and 1940) were not held because of the First and Second World Wars, respectively.

The IOC statement indicated that the Olympics will be held after the end of 2020, but will not exceed the summer of 2021.
The statement added that the goal of the postponement is to protect the health and safety of athletes and all participants in the Olympic Games and the international community.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said: " The German Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, "agreed" to postpone the Tokyo Olympics for a period of one year due to fears of Coronavirus outbreak.

Abe told reporters today that he asked during his phone discussions with Bach today to postpone the Olympics for one year only if the International Olympic Committee decides to postpone this copy due to the Coronavirus, which is what happened. Abe confirmed that Bach "agreed 100 percent."