The International Olympic Committee (IOC), has confirmed that the Tokyo Olympics   2020 have been postponed for 1 year after IOC president Thomas Bach agreed to a request from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

While speaking to reporters following a call with IOC President on Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed reporters that Bach had “agreed 100 percent” to postpone the Olympics by a year

“We asked President Bach to consider postponement of about one year to make it possible for athletes to play in the best condition, and to make the event a safe and secure one for spectators,” Abe said, adding that the delayed Games will be a “testament to the defeat of the virus”

IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee released a joint statement which reads:

“In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.”

Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committeehttps://t.co/XNcaa4Gvx8

— Olympics (@Olympics) March 24, 2020

The decision to postpone Tokyo Olympics   2020 came as there was a lot of pressure by National Olympic Committees, athletes’ associations and individual competitors as the whole world went into a complete lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus, which has now affected almost 400,000 people in almost 200 countries, and claimed over 16,500 lives.

Coronavirus Updates: Latest News Updates in Pakistan and Around the World 24 March