MANILA, Philippines – The 2020 Olympics set to be held in Tokyo, Japan will be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, USA Today reported Tuesday.
USA Today’s Christine Brennan spoke to International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound, who claimed that the quadrennial sports event will be rescheduled to 2021.
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Exclusive: The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be postponed, likely to 2021, veteran IOC member Dick Pound says.
“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound told @cbrennansports. https://t.co/Fr8be81BEU pic.twitter.com/POWFtCr0wW— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) March 23, 2020
“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound told Brennan. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”
Tokyo Olympic organizers have been hounded with calls to postpone the Games because of the coronavirus scare, with Canada and Australia even announcing their withdrawal.
But officials have been hesitant to delay the Olympics, mainly because of major financial consequences.
Official announcement of the postponement is yet to be made, but Pound told Brennan it will “come in stages.”
“It will come in stages. We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense,” said Pound.