OSLO (Norway): The 2020 Olympics are due to open in Tokyo on July 24, but with coronavirus sweeping the world, the Norwegian Olympic Committee (NOC) on Saturday said they had asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the Games.
In a letter sent to the IOC on Friday, the Norwegian sports body said it was “concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health situation both nationally and internationally.”
“Our clear recommendation is that the Olympic Games in Tokyo shall not take place before the COVID-19 situation is under firm control on a global scale,” reports AFP.
The NOC also pointed out that one of the measures undertaken in order to curb the spread of the virus in Norway was a ban on organised sports activities, which had created “a very challenging time for the sports movement in Norway”.
As of Friday, 258,930 cases of the new coronavirus had been confirmed with 11,129 deaths, across 163 countries and territories.
The Olympics are increasingly in doubt as the pandemic, which emerged in China last year but has now spread around the world, shows no sign of slowing down.
American swim federation USA Swimming asked for the games to be postponed on Friday and was joined by its French counterpart on Saturday.
However, IOC President Thomas Bach insisted this week it was “premature” to consider postponing the Tokyo Games, which are scheduled to start on July 24.
