The International Olympics Committee has announced that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is postponed to “no later than summer 2021” due to the coronavirus.

IOC president Thomas Bach and the Prime Minister of Japan Abe Shinzo hosted a conference on Tuesday to discuss the rapidly evolving situation and whether the games can take place in the summer of 2020.

The spread of the outbreak has seen the situation in the rest of the world deteriorate with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), describing the COVID-19 pandemic as ‘accelerating’.

In a statement the IOC said: “In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.”

It was also agreed that the Olympic flame will remain in Japan and that the Games will retain the name “Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020”.