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Coronavirus in sport: IOC to hold talks with sport chiefs

The IOC will also hold an unscheduled Executive Board meeting via teleconferencing to internally discuss the latest developments, another source said.

Tokyo 2020

Bengaluru, March 16: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will hold talks with heads of varous international sports organisations on Tuesday (March 17) in response to the coronavirus outbreak, a source close to an international federation briefed on the issue said.

The IOC will also hold an unscheduled Executive Board meeting via teleconferencing to internally discuss the latest developments, another source said.

A source within the Olympic movement was quoted as saying to Reuters news agency that no decision was expected on Tuesday by the executive board.

With less than five months to go until the scheduled start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on July 24, questions have been raised as to whether the Games can go ahead.

The virus, which originated in China late last year, has killed more than 6,000 people around the world and infected more than 160,000.

It has wreaked havoc on the global sporting calendar, leading to some Olympic qualification events being cancelled or postponed and concern has been rising about whether the entire Games should be scrapped or postponed.

However, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Tokyo 2020 organisers have reiterated that preparations are going on for the Games to be held as planned.

'Don't sacrifice lives' - Doubts grow in Japan over Tokyo Olympics'Don't sacrifice lives' - Doubts grow in Japan over Tokyo Olympics

Abe told parliament he wanted the Tokyo Games to represent a world's victory over the coronavirus pandemic, Kyodo newswire reported.

According to a telephone poll conducted by Kyodo, however, Abe's fellow citizens are less optimistic about prospects for the Games, with 69 per cent of respondents saying they did not think Tokyo would be able to host the gathering as planned.

Kyodo did not say how many people were questioned in the survey.

(With Agency inputs)

Story first published: Monday, March 16, 2020, 16:32 [IST]
Other articles published on Mar 16, 2020