Postponing the Olympic Games: It's complicated

TOKYO – Among the "many, many" challenges the IOC mentioned, it highlighted that "the situations with millions of nights already booked in hotels is extremely difficult to handle".

In fact, one of the concerns before the coronavirus hit was a possible dearth of hotel rooms. One idea was to park a cruise ship offshore for emergency accommodation — now surely a non-starter given the experience with cruise ships and the virus.

Hotel rooms have been block-booked in advance for many months. Many have paid a large deposit in advance and could face losing this, in addition to having to re-book quickly for a postponed date.

The hotel industry would also face huge uncertainty if the Games are delayed, adding to the headache already posed by a catastrophic drop in tourism.

Any silver linings?

A postponement by a few months to later in 2020 might solve what had previously been the biggest concern over the Tokyo Olympics: the sweltering heat of the Japanese summer.

It could even be conceivable to move the marathon back to Tokyo after it was shifted to the northern city of Sapporo amid fears over athletes' safety in the summer heat and humidity of the Japanese capital.

However, going ahead in the autumn would also put the Olympics in prime typhoon season —as the Rugby World Cup found out to its cost last year.

A delay could also give sporting federations more time to prepare qualifying events, addressing one of the main concerns voiced by athletes.