DM Monitoring
Japan: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) in consultation with the Japanese Government has announced to postpone the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympic Games due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision was taken in a conference call headed by the President of the IOC, Thomas Bach, and the Prime Minister of Japan, Abe Shinzo. The meeting was attended by Mori Yoshiro, the President of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, the Olympic Minister, Hashimoto Seiko, the Governor of Tokyo, Koike Yuriko, the Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission, John Coates, IOC Director General Christophe De Kepper, and the IOC Olympic Games Executive Director, Christophe Dubai.
It was agreed in the meeting that the event will be held no later than 2021. The Olympic Torch will remain in Japan and the Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 whenever it takes place.
It must be noted here that the mega event was scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020 in Tokyo. Great Britain, Australia, and Canada had already refused to send their team to the event following the global crisis. Several countries requested IOC to shift the event to better save the health of athletes.
