20 March 2020

Olympic president Thomas Bach says cancelling Tokyo 2020 is 'not on the agenda'

Olympic President Thomas Bach says cancelling the Tokyo 2020 Games in 'not on the agenda'.

Despite many sporting events across the world being postponed or cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Games are still scheduled to go ahead.

But the International Olympic Committee are 'considering different scenarios' ahead of Tokyo which is set to start on July 24.

Bach told The New York Times: "The cancellation is not on the agenda. We are committed to the success of these Games.

"We don’t know what the situation will be. Of course we are considering different scenarios, but we are contrary to many other sports organisations or professional leagues in that we are four and a half months away from the Games.

"What makes this crisis so unique and so difficult to overcome is the uncertainty. Nobody today can tell you what the developments are tomorrow, what they are in one month, not to mention in more than four months."

Japan is expected to see 600,000 overseas spectators and athletes attend the event.

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