Coronavirus: Morocco’s National Olympic Committee Hails Postponement of Tokyo Olympics

The Moroccan National Olympic Committee has commended the “bold and responsible decision” made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Japanese government to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by one year due to coronavirus pandemic.

The move seeks to protect the health of athletes worldwide, said the Moroccan committee, voicing its strong support to the joint decision taken by the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee.

The Tokyo Olympics were postponed until 2021 after talks between Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, and the IOC president.

“We agreed that a postponement would be the best way to ensure that the athletes are in peak condition when they compete and to guarantee the safety of the spectators,” Abe told reporters shortly after his conference call with Bach.

Japan has spent more than $12 bn on the Olympic Games and experts estimate the incurred loss at $ about 4.5 bn in inbound and domestic consumption.

The Olympics have never been delayed in their 124-year modern history, though they were cancelled altogether in 1916, 1940 and 1944 during World War One and World War Two.

Several other sporting events and major tournaments had also been postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic, which continues to spread around the world,with 435,382 cases and 19,620 deaths.