Olympics: Japan PM Shinzo Abe, IOC agree to delay Tokyo Olympics by one year

ATHENS (REUTERS, AFP) Japan will hold the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games by the summer of 2021 at latest, owing to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday (March 24).

"I proposed to postpone for about a year and president Bach responded with 100 per cent agreement," Mr Abe told reporters.

He made the comment in a briefing with reporters following a call with International Olympic Committee (IOC) head Thomas Bach.

"We asked president Bach to consider postponement of about one year to make it possible for athletes to play in the best condition, and to make the event a safe and secure one for spectators.”

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike separately told reporters the Games would still be branded “Tokyo 2020” even if they take place next year.

A joint statement by the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 organising committee read: "In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO (World Health Organisation) today, the IOC president and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.

"The leaders agreed that the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present. Therefore, it was agreed that the Olympic flame will stay in Japan. It was also agreed that the Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020."