COVID-19: Olympic and Paralympic Games postponed

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been postponed until next year because of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

The event which was scheduled to begin on the 24th of July will now take place no later than Summer 2021.

The Games will still be called Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games despite taking place in 2021.

BBC reported Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated that the proposed postponement of one year was 100 percent agreed by the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

In a joint statement, the organisers of Tokyo 2020 and the IOC stated that the unprecedented and unpredictable spread of the outbreak has seen the situation in the rest of the world deteriorating.

The statement also stated that the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday said that the Covid-19 pandemic is 'accelerating'.

They say there are more than 375,000 cases now recorded worldwide and in nearly every country, and the number is growing by the hour.

In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO, the IOC president and the prime minister of Japan have concluded that the Games 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 IOC had given itself a deadline of four weeks to consider delaying the Games but there had been mounting pressure from a host of Olympic committees and athletes demanding a quicker decision.

Canada became the first major country to withdraw from both events on Sunday, while USA Track and Field, athletics' US governing body, had also called for a postponement.

International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons said the postponement of the game was the only logical option.

[Source: : BBC]

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