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.

Months ahead of Tokyo Olympics, WADA suspends India's dope testing lab

The NDTL has been instructed to stop all testing procedures with immediate effect and all the samples need to be safely moved to an accredited lab.

Business Standard : The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the accreditation of the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) for six months in what could be a massive blow to anti-doping movement in the country with less than a year left for Tokyo Olympics.

It is understood that National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) can still carry on with sample collection (blood and urine) but will have to get it tested by a different WADA accredited laboratory outside India during the suspension period of NDTL.

"This suspension has been imposed due to non-conformities with the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) as identified during a WADA site visit," WADA stated in a media release on its website.

The WADA also stated that it's Laboratory Expert Group (LabEG) initiated a disciplinary proceedings with regards to status of WADA accredited laboratories.

"In May 2019, disciplinary proceedings were initiated by WADA's Laboratory Expert Group (LabEG) and subsequently carried out by an independent Disciplinary Committee, which was mandated to make a recommendation to the Chair of the WADA Executive Committee regarding the status of the laboratory's accreditation. This process is now complete," WADA informed.

The NDTL has been instructed to stop all testing procedures with immediate effect and all the samples need to be safely moved to an accredited lab.

"The suspension, which took effect on 20 August 2019, prohibits the NDTL from carrying out any anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples.

"During the period of suspension, samples that have not yet been analyzed by the NDTL; samples currently undergoing a confirmation procedure; and any samples for which an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) has been reported, must be securely transported to another WADA-accredited laboratory. This is in order to ensure continued high-quality sample analysis, which also helps preserve athletes' confidence in this process and the wider anti-doping system," it stated.

The suspension came into effect from August 20 but NDTL can appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne in the next 21 days.