2020 Olympics will be delayed up to a year: Japan PM Abe

The IOC agree to a one-year postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics because of the threat of coronavirus, says Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Japan will hold the Summer Olympics Games by the summer of 2021 at latest, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday (March 24) after holding a telephone meeting with International Olympic Committee (IOC) head Thomas Bach.

There was no immediate word from the IOC, though its executives were due to meet later on Tuesday.

Pressure on the IOC and its president Bach had been accelerating fast in recent days, with Canada and Australia refusing to participate if the Games went ahead in the summer.