IOC thanks G20 Leaders for their support on postponement of Tokyo Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday thanked the G20 Summit Leaders for welcoming their decision of postponing the Tokyo Summer Olympics by a year. The decision had to be taken considering the ongoing pandemic in the whole world due to the deadly Coronavirus. 

In an extraordinary statement published by the G20 Leader’ Summit on said, “We value the efforts to safeguard our people’s health through the postponement of major public events, in particular the decision by the International Olympic Committee to reschedule the Olympic Games to a date no later than summer 2021. We commend Japan’s determination to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 in their complete form as a symbol of human resilience.”

The G20 Leaders on Thursday pledged to inject $ 5 trillion USD into the global economy to combat the pandemic amid the forecasts of a deep recession in the coming months. 

IOC President Thomas Bach was quick to respond as he said, “It is a great encouragement for Japan and the IOC, and their joint commitment to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, to have this significant support of the world’s leaders by a joint G20 statement. Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel. These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel.” 

Two days ago, IOC along with the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abee agreed to postpone this year’s Summer Olympics to the next year, taking the current situation into consideration and the also the health of the athletes who would have come from all over the world to compete at the mega-event. 

The IOC also cited that despite the Tokyo Olympics being rescheduled to the next year, it would be called Tokyo 2020 Olympics irrespective of the fact that it will take place the next summer. 

The Tokyo Olympics was scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 9 but the postponement would cost the country the estimated loss of $6 billion. With no other option, the event will take place by the summers of the next year.