Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have been postponed.
The event will now take place “no later than summer 2021,” announced the International Olympic (IOC), with the games originally due to start on 24th July 2020.
This morning, crisis talks were held over the phone between the International Olympic Committee’s president, Thomas Bach, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who formally sought what is the first-ever delay in the competition’s 124-year history.
An Olympics postponement would be a blow for host country Japan, which has poured in more than $12 billion in funding, and large amounts are also at stake for sponsors and broadcasters.