The President of the International Athletics Federation, Sebastian Coe, asked the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, to postpone the Tokyo Olympics because of the coronavirus epidemic, in a letter including: 'AFP obtained a copy on Monday 23 March.

Opening the Games on July 24 as planned is "neither feasible nor desirable," wrote the leader in this letter written before the IOC meeting held on Sunday, opening the door to a possible postponement.

Olympic legend of athletics, the American Carl Lewis has publicly taken position so that the Olympic Games of Tokyo-2020 are postponed to 2022.

"Postponing the Olympic Games is not like postponing a football match to the following Saturday," warned the IOC president this weekend to highlight the challenge that the organizers may face in the event of the postponement of the most great world sporting event.

It all depends on the duration of a possible postponement, but adding the Olympic Games to an already full 2021 sports calendar would be a logistical nightmare.

Because the summer of 2021 promises to be already very busy: the world championships in athletics and swimming are already scheduled there, like the Euro football, postponed until next year.

While anger is mounting among the athletes, the IOC has announced that a postponement is now on the table, giving itself four weeks to decide, while recalling the complexity of such a choice.

With AFP

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