ATHENS/TOKYO (Reuters) – A final decision whether to postpone the Tokyo Olympics because of the coronavirus pandemic will be taken in the coming days, sources within the Olympic movement told Reuters on Tuesday, as the United States joined calls for a delay.
With pressure mounting every day, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach have scheduled a telephone conference at 1100 GMT on Tuesday, the Japanese government said.
Japan’s Sankei newspaper reported on Tuesday that the government were negotiating with the IOC to postpone the Games for up to a year, in what would be a first in the 124-year modern history of the Olympics.
The IOC and Japanese government had announced they would undertake a month-long consultation before making a final decision but there looks to have been a rethink as more and more voices joined the chorus of calls for a postponement.
On Monday, former IOC board member Dick Pound said the Swiss-based body appeared to have decided to delay the event, likely for a year, due to the virus.
The outbreak has now infected more than 377,000 across 194 according to a Reuters tally on Tuesday morning, with over 16,500 deaths linked to the virus.
Efforts to contain it have led to major