Tokyo 2021 Olympics will be cancelled if new date still isn't safe

And with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warning that next summer's date will only be kept if the virus has been contained by that time, the IOC's Thomas Bach has claimed this could mean the scrapping of the Games outright.

"Quite frankly, I have some understanding for this, because you can't forever employ 3,000 or 5,000 people in an Organising Committee," he told the BBC.

"You can't every year change the entire sports schedule worldwide of all the major federations. You can't have the athletes being in uncertainty."

However Bach added that the IOC was looking at various measures for holding the Games safely next year - with one possibility including quarantining athletes.

He said, "All these different scenarios are under consideration and this is why I'm saying it's a mammoth task, because there are so many different options that it's not easy to address them (now).

"When we have a clear view on how the world will look on July 23, 2021, then (we will) take the appropriate decisions."

As things stand, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8th 2021.

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