The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is set to confirm it is considering a postponement of Tokyo 2020, and has given itself a deadline of four weeks to make a decision.
Executive board of IOC met on March 22 amid mounting pressure from athletes and national Olympic committees for the delay of the Games scheduled to start July 24 and end on August 9.
The Committee is said to have decided there will be no straight cancellation. Postponement is thought to be the most likely outcome.
Thomas Bach, IOC president on March 20 said that “different scenarios” for the Games are being considered for the first time.
On March 21, USA Track and Field, athletics’ US governing body, called for the Olympics in Tokyo to be delayed because of the ongoing coronavirus situation.
It follows a request from USA Swimming for it to be delayed by 12 months.
UK Athletics chairman Nic Coward recently suggested that the Olympics should be postponed, while Brazil, Norway and Slovenia’s Olympic committees have also urged the IOC to take action and put the Games back to next year.
Four-time Olympic champion and BBC Sport pundit Michael Johnson has expressed fears that athletes could “risk their lives” trying to train for the Games and asked for clarity on the IOC‘s decision-making process.
