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What's the story?
John Coates, Chairman of the Tokyo coordination committee has brought to light that the Tokyo Olympics 2020 will be contested as originally scheduled, despite multiple claims pushing for the possible postponement of the quadrennial event.
In case you didn't know
Sports events across the world have either been called off or pushed to a later date owing to the dangers posed by the coronavirus. With the virus particularlplaguing China and Japan over the last few weeks, there have been rumours surrounding the possible delay in commencement of the Games.
Most recently, the Greek Olympic committee confirmed that the traditional Olympic flame handover will be taking place behind closed doors to keep the spreading of the virus at bay, which does go in parallel to the IOC's agenda to stick to the original commencement date.
Check out: the full Olympics 2020 Schedule
The heart of the matter
It has come to light that the International Olympic Committee will be meeting today to discuss the viability of hosting the Olympic Games, with athletes in danger of contracting the virus despite the event slated to be held only in July later this year.
However, prior to the meeting, Coates quelled any questions regarding the decision to postpone the event, despite a few claims that the ultimate decision will be made in May. He also expressed his disappointment on the lack of qualification events for athletes who are on the brink of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics.
"The IOC did not recognise any dates, and it's all proceeding to begin on 24th of July."
"The difficulty for those who have qualified or will qualify is they won't get any more international competition."
It is interesting to note that the move to contest the Tokyo Olympics 2020 as per schedule has been given go-ahead by Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and IOC chief Thomas Bach.
What's next?
With many qualification tournaments called off and a few others being held behind closed doors, it remains to be seen if the IOC postpone the event to accommodate the qualification events or go ahead with the global event as planned post the meeting today.
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