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International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound says the Tokyo Olympics will be postponed – likely until the summer of 2021.
Organisers face global pressure to postpone the Games for the first time in their 124-year modern history due to the coronavirus crisis, and major sporting nations Australia and Canada have already announced their withdrawal.
Japan has over 1,800 confirmed cases with 49 deaths.
“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” he told USA Today.
“The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”
Earlier, London 2012’s head of health and safety, Lawrence Waterman, said that organisers had to postponed the Tokyo Games until the following summer.
“These games need to be postponed, and the sooner the IOC and the Japanese government face up to this the better. It’s simply not safe to put the games on during a global pandemic,” Waterman said in a statement.
“People’s safety and health should come before the costs of delaying contracts. The London Games were the first in history to be completed without a single fatality, we set the standard on health and safety at the Olympics.
“Key to that is testing venues with real crowds to iron out problems. That’s simply not possible if people are to be two metres apart.”
