The IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Tokyo Olympics must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021.
In a Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee they agreed that . . .
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.
This was to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.
The leaders agreed that the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present.
Therefore, it was agreed that the Olympic flame will stay in Japan.
It was also agreed that the Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.
President Bach and Prime Minister Abe expressed their shared concern about the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, and what it is doing to people’s lives and the significant impact it is having on global athletes preparations for the Games.
World Sailing responded . . .
In the short term, World Sailing will not hold Olympic qualification events for Africa, Asia or Europe. World Sailing is working with the IOC on an update to the qualification system where our recommendation will be to look at hosting qualifications events in late 2020 or early 2021.
Following the IOC decision, World Sailing is working closely with the Japanese Sailing Federation, the Organising Committee of the 2020 Hempel World Cup Series Final, and will communicate decisions on the 2021 event calendar shortly.