IOC ‘putting us in danger’ – Pressure mounts for 2020 Tokyo Olympics postponement

Pressure mounted on Olympic organisers to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Games on Saturday after the powerful US track and field federation urged for this summer’s event to be pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Pressure mounted on Olympic organisers to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Games on Saturday after the powerful US track and field federation urged for this summer’s event to be pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

AFP is quoted by France 24 which reports that  request for a delay was echoed on Saturday by France’s swimming federation which said that the Games could not be organised properly in the “current context”.

The Norwegian Olympic Committee (NOC) quickly followed, saying that it had sent a letter to the IOC on Friday motivated in part by a Norwegian government ban on organised sports activities which had created “a very challenging time for the sports movement in Norway”.

“Our clear recommendation is that the Olympic Games in Tokyo shall not take place before the COVID-19 situation is under firm control on a global scale,” the NOC said in the letter.

The new chairman of the United Kingdom’s athletics governing body also questioned the need to hold the Olympics this summer given the uncertainty surrounding the spread of COVID-19, which has killed nearly 11,500 people worldwide.

Via France 24