Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has proposed the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are delayed by one year in a conference call with Games chiefs due to the coronavirus crisis.
International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound revealed on Monday night a decision has been made to postpone Tokyo 2020 — with the Games now set to be held next summer.
It now seems the move has the support of the Japanese government after Abe told the IOC his nation would accept a delay to the Games of 12 months, according to NHK.
Abe made the announcement during a call with IOC president Thomas Bach and Organising Committee chief Yoshiro Mori.
It follows comments by Powell that the Games would not be taking place this summer.
Pound said: ‘On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided. The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.
‘It will come in stages. We will postpone (the Games) and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving them, which are immense.’
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Responding to Pound’s comments, the IOC said in a statement: ‘It is the right of every IOC member to interpret the decision of the IOC executive board, which was announced on Sunday.’
On Sunday, the IOC gave themselves a four-week deadline to decide on the best course of action and ruled out cancelling the Olympics altogether.
That 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.
Abe and US president Donald Trump will also likely hold talks over the phone as early as Wednesday, according to Kyodo news agency, with the Olympics high on the agenda.
There have now been just under 400,000 cases of coronavirus worldwide with more than 17,000 deaths.
