Tokyo Olympics postponed to next year amid pandemic

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach agreed Tuesday to postpone this summer's Tokyo Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Japanese leader said.

After speaking with Bach on the phone, Abe told reporters that they will aim to hold the Olympics and Paralympics next year, according to Kyodo News.

It is the first time ever that the quadrennial sporting event has been postponed.

The unprecedented delay will be a major blow to host Japan and is certain to have a cascade of economic, political and social ramifications. It will also pose considerable logistical challenges to Olympics organizers.

The phone talks came amid mounting pressure from athletes and sports organizations to reschedule the Olympics due to the rapid spread of the virus, just a day after Abe told parliament that the Summer Games－which were scheduled to start on July 24－cannot be held under the current circumstances, suggesting for the first time that they may have to be postponed.

On Tuesday, Abe also spoke on phone with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to Japan's foreign ministry. Trudeau on Monday praised Canadian Olympic officials' decision not to send athletes to the 2020 Tokyo Games due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Canadian Olympic Committee and its Paralympic counterpart announced on Sunday they will not be sending athletes to the Olympics and urged that they be postponed. Canada was the first country to take the decision.

Veteran IOC member Dick Pound told USA TODAY Sports on Monday that the 2020 Tokyo Games are going to be postponed.

Following Canada, a growing number of countries and athletes had called for the event to be postponed.

The Australian Olympic Committee, as Reuters reported, said on Monday in a statement that it had told its athletes to prepare for a Tokyo Games taking place in 2021.

"The AOC (Executive Board) unanimously agreed that an Australian team could not be assembled in the changing circumstances at home and abroad," read the statement.

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee said the organization has heard the concerns from Team USA athletes regarding the 2020 Tokyo Games, and that the "path toward postponement is the most promising," in a statement released on Monday, according to CNN.

Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tuesday that Japan will impose an entry ban on foreign travelers from 18 European countries and Iran to limit the spread of the coronavirus, Japan Times said.

On Monday, Japanese foreign ministry raised its travel alert for the 18 European countries and Iran to Level 3, urging citizens to avoid all travel to the designated areas.