IOC President Thomas Bach Photo: VCG

 

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said Wednesday that the postponed Tokyo Games would require "sacrifices and compromises" from all sides to make them work.

"These postponed Olympic Games will need sacrifices, will need compromises by all of the stakeholders," Bach told reporters in a conference call the day after the IOC decided to delay the 2020 Games because of the coronavirus pandemic.

He admitted that canceling the Tokyo Games was "discussed and considered," but said, "It was very clear from the beginning that cancelation was not something the IOC would in any way favour."

It is the first Olympic Games in peacetime to be postponed.

Bach said the rescheduling of the Games in 2021 remained a "very challenging question."

A task force, named 'Here We Go,' had been created to examine the issue, Bach added, saying the first port of call would be with the 33 international federations, likely starting with a conference call on Thursday.

"The first step, we have to see with them, to see what the options are. We also have to take into account the sports calendar around the Olympic Games," the German said.

The rescheduling, he added, "is not restricted just to the summer months. All the options are on the table, before and including the summer of 2021."

The IOC is working with sports bodies to arrange a July-August window for the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and hopes to confirm the schedule within a month, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday.

John Coates, the IOC's Coordination Commission chief for Tokyo, told the Yomiuri the Games would have to be held between the tennis Grand Slams of Wimbledon, slated to end in mid-­July, and the US Open, which starts in late August.

"We want to more or less finalize the dates in four weeks' time," the paper quoted Coates as saying.

Coates said the summer scheduling would be dependent on avoiding clashes with the world championships for swimming (July 16-August 1) and athletics (­August 6-15).