In an additional effort to slow the spread of the Coronavirus, the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government have decided the Summer Olympics in Tokyo will be delayed at least until next year. The decision was made to reschedule the games “beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021”. The events were originally planned for July.

This, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and IOC president Thomas Bach explained, was to safeguard the health of athletes and everybody involved in the organization of the games. “The leaders agreed that the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present,” the pair said in a joint statement.

Pressure had been building on the organizers to cancel the event, with Canada and Australia yesterday announcing that they had withdrawn their athletes from all competitions. This move also follows the postponement of most major sporting events in America and Europe . For more about the Summer Olympics postponement, please visit iGaming Business.