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Now the Olympics?
The 2020 Tokyo Games will be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to veteran International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound, although no official announcement has been made.
Pound, an influential member of the IOC, broke the news to USA Today Sports on Monday afternoon.
“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound said in a phone interview. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”
Pound said the Games probably will be pushed back to next year. IOC officials reportedly will work out details over the next month and make an announcement soon.
“It will come in stages,” said Pound, a Canadian who is the longest-serving IOC member. “We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.”
IOC President Thomas Bach indicated Sunday that postponement was a possibility. However, neither the IOC nor Japanese Olympic officials have made such an announcement.
USA Today Sports asked IOC spokesperson Mark Adams to comment on Pound’s comments. He said: “It is the right of every IOC member to interpret the decision of the IOC executive board which was announced [Sunday].”
Bach said in a letter to the athletes that the IOC was considering alternative plans and a decision would be reached within a month. That included postponement but not cancellation, which Japanese officials have strongly opposed.
This would be the fourth time the Olympics have not been staged as scheduled. The 1916, 1940 and 1944 Games were canceled because of World War I and World War II.
The 2020 boxing competition was scheduled to take place between July 25 and Aug. 9. The number of weight classes for men was reduced from 10 to 8 while two divisions were added for the women, who were limited to three divisions in 2016.