Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 will be postponed: IOC member Dick Pound

The IOC said on Sunday the body would wait four more weeks before announcing its decision on the fate of the July 24-August 9 Games, amid mounting calls for them to be rescheduled.

Senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) official Dick Pound said Monday a postponement of this year's Tokyo Olympics is now inevitable as the world reels from the coronavirus pandemic.

The IOC said on Sunday the body would wait four more weeks before announcing its decision on the fate of the July 24-August 9 Games, amid mounting calls for them to be rescheduled.

Pound however believes the IOC -- which ruled out a cancellation of the Games -- is now laying the groundwork for a postponement.

"My interpretation of the IOC's communications is they don't want to cancel, and they don't think they can continue with the July 24 date," Pound told AFP. "So you're looking at the 'P' word - postponement.

"They're going to explore options with the Japanese of course, and then there all kinds of stakeholders -- international federations, NOCs, athletes.

"And then in four weeks they're going to try and come out with a plan B and make it as specific as they can make it in that time period." Pound, who is Canadian, said the "astonishing" spread of COVID-19 across the globe left the IOC with no other choice.

"This is not something that's going to clear up by July 24," Pound said.

"And this thing isn't going to go away by September or October. A lot of the biggest countries in the world are just about overwhelmed, and it's just starting to take root in Africa. It's a no-go in my view." A one-year postponement to 2021 remained the most likely option, Pound added.

"I think the one-year postponement is the most feasible because it gives you the most time to organise," he said.

Olympics in 2020 'neither feasible or desirable': World Athletics chief

The IOC and Japanese government, under increasing pressure to take action, have flagged that postponement was possible.

World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe has written a letter to International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, calling in postponement of Tokyo Olympic Games amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In his letter, Coe has said that an Olympics in July 2020 is "neither feasible or desirable" because of the coronavirus crisis, reports BBC Sport.

"No-one wants to see the Olympic Games postponed but as I have said publicly, we cannot hold the event at all costs, certainly not at the cost of athlete safety, and a decision on the Olympic Games must become very obvious very quickly.

"I believe that time has come and we owe it to our athletes to give them respite where we can," the letter stated.

The Tokyo Games are due to start from July 24 but the rising concern over the spread of coronavirus and the havoc it has wreaked on the qualification calendar has led to questions being raised on whether the organisers can go through with the scheduled date.

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The IOC and Japanese government, under increasing pressure to take action, have flagged that postponement was possible. IOC has stated that postponing the 2020 Olympics is one option amid the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, although it added that cancelling the Games altogether is "not on the agenda.

Bach, in an open letter to athletes around the world, said a decision on when to hold the Games would be made "within the next four weeks".

Canada has already announced that they will not send their athletes to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games due to the COVID-19 which has claimed over 14,000 lives across the world.

Coronavirus: Japan minister hints that Tokyo Olympics 2020 may be postponed

While answering a question in the Japanese parliament, the minister said the contract with IOC called for games to be held within 2020.

Japan’s Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto on Tuesday hinted that the Tokyo summer games could be postponed due to coronavirus outbreak. While answering a question in Japanese parliament, Hashimoto said Tokyo's contract with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) "calls for the Games to be held within 2020".

"Looking at the contract once again, it says in Article 66 that the IOC holds the right to cancel the Games by deactivating the contract if... the Games are not held in 2020," Hashimoto said.

"At this moment, the Tokyo 2020 committee, the IOC and Tokyo (city government) are doing their best to make sure the Games will be held from July 24," she added. The Tokyo Olympics 2020 is scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 9.

Hashimoto added that May looked like an "important benchmark" for deciding whether the Games go ahead as scheduled.

"An IOC member has said the end of May is the final deadline for making the decision," she said, referring to remarks by senior IOC member Dick Pound. "So I think the end of May is an important benchmark," Hashimoto added.

ALSO READ: Don't write off Tokyo Olympics yet, still 3 months to decide: IOC member

"We're making utmost efforts so that the IOC can be convinced that the Tokyo Games can be held safely."

The Japanese govt Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stepped up national measures to contain the virus, urging schools nationwide to close for several weeks and calling on organisers of large events to consider cancelling or delaying them.