Japan’s Prime Minister says IOC agrees ‘100%’ that Olympics should be postponed

by: The Associated Press

Posted: Mar 24, 2020 / 08:41 AM EDT / Updated: Mar 24, 2020 / 08:46 AM EDT

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks at a parliamentary session in Tokyo Monday, March 23, 2020. Abe said a postponement of Tokyo Olympics would be unavoidable if the games cannot be held in a complete way because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Yoshitaka Sugawara/Kyodo News via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — IOC President Thomas Bach has agreed “100%” to a proposal of postponing the Tokyo Olympics for about one year until 2021 because of the coronavirus outbreak, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday.

Abe said after his telephone talks with Bach that he requested a postponement of about one year “taking into consideration the current circumstances” and to secure an environment in which athletes can perform in their best conditions and the sense of safety and security for the audience.

Abe held telephone talks with Bach after the IOC said it would make a decision on the Tokyo Games over the next four weeks.

This is a developing story. It will be updated with additional information.