The local organizer has previously said that there is no plan B if the already delayed summer Olympics cannot be carried out next summer. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also informed the IOC that summer 2021 is the last option.

Tomas Bach, chairman of the IOC, understands that next summer is the last option. Only six months ago, the Beijing Winter Olympics is scheduled to be held.

- You can't have 5,000 people in an organizing committee before, he says to the BBC and continues:

 - Nor can you change the sports calendar every year for the big championships and you really can't let the sports go on living in uncertainty. You also can't have such a tight overlap with future Olympics. So I understand how the Japanese government and the local organizer think.

At the same time, Thomas Bach says he expects the Olympics to be completed next summer.

- We have to plan for different scenarios because we have a task to be able to hold the Olympics in July next year, he says.

Jacob Hård: A unique decision

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