The eagerly awaited Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have been postponed until next year 2021 because of the worldwide Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed.
This year’s games were slated to kick off on 24 July to 26th August 2020.
“I proposed to postpone for a year and [IOC] president Thomas Bach responded with 100% agreement,” Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
The Tokyo Paralympic Games will also be postponed until 2021.
Prime Minister Abe added: “This will make it possible for athletes to play in the best condition, and will make the event a safe and secure one for spectators.”
The agreement comes as the British Olympic Association (BOA) was meeting on Tuesday to discuss the matter.
BOA chairman Hugh Robertson had already said Great Britain was unlikely to send a team to Tokyo this summer.
Additional reporting by BBC