Coronavirus: Olympic Games to be postponed, International Olympic Committee member says

Canada and Australia have already announced their decision to withdraw from the games

The 2020 Olympic Games will be postponed by one year due to the coronavirus.

The statement came from veteran International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound, who said that details will be worked out in the next four weeks.

"On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided," Pound told American newspaper USA today.

He also said that while the games will not be starting on the 24 July, any parameters going forward have not yet been decided.

Canada and Australia have already announced their decision to withdraw from the games, with British Olympic Association chairman Hugh Robertson stating that he expected Britain to “join shortly”.

"We can't see any way that this can go ahead as things are constituted," Robertson had said.

World Athletics president Lord Coe had also called for this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo to be postponed.

In a letter to IOC president Thomas Bach, Coe says an Olympics in July 2020 is "neither feasible or desirable" because of the coronavirus crisis.

The games were due to be held in Tokyo.