The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Tuesday welcomed the IOC’s decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympics by one year in view of the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, saying the country’s athletes have been relieved of having to train during a global health crisis.
“IOA welcomes the decision of IOC. Discussions were held by IOC with organisers and all stakeholders prior to this,” IOA Secretary General Rajiv Mehta said.
“Soon after the lockdown is over, IOA would be holding meetings with athletes, federations, sponsors, etc. To revise plans.
“This decision today, relieves our athletes of worries of having to train now during epidemic and perform their best in four months from now,” he added.
The IOA said it will have a meeting with the national sports federations (NSFs) soon to chalk out a revised plan.
“We have requested IOC and Tokyo 2020 (organisers) for more specifics on the revised schedule and scope of operations. All related communication will be shared with you as soon as we can,” Mehta wrote in an e-mail to the NSFs. “Please excuse the delay as many specifics are yet to be known. Thereafter, meetings would also be held with the federations,” he added.