​New Olympic look amid virus crisis ​

With less than five months to go before the Tokyo Olympics, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach is planning emergency talks with member organisations, sources close to the IOC said on Sunday.

The IOC is planning a conference call on Tuesday to “keep the international federations informed of the situation, as well as the National Olympic Committees and athletes”, one source close to the IOC told AFP.

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The IOC “will take stock of the actions taken” to respond to the coronavirus crisis “and the federations will have the opportunity to ask questions” added a source close to one international sports federation.

The IOC “conducts a regular dialogue with all the Olympic partners and regularly informs them of the situation,” added an IOC spokesman.

As people around the world are told to practise social distancing to slow the spread of coronavirus, some are still managing to keep a sense of humour about the situation.

A Reddit user added some Photoshop skills into the mix to provide a lighthearted take on what the Olympic rings — normally intertwined — would look like in the current climate.

While many international sporting events have been postponed or cancelled, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised on Friday that Tokyo would host the Olympic Games as planned in July and August, despite questions raised by the pandemic.

Bach said on Thursday that his organisation would follow the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) regarding a possible postponement.

He acknowledged, however, that the cancellation of qualifying events due to the epidemic was already posing “serious problems”.

The issue of qualifying will be a focus of Tuesday’s telephone meeting.

At the beginning of March, Bach said the IOC would show “flexibility” regarding the qualifications for the Tokyo and encouraged “all athletes to continue to prepare” for the Games.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games flame handover in Athens will be done in an empty stadium amid the coronavirus outbreak, Greece’s Olympic Committee says.

Greece on Friday cancelled the remainder of the domestic Olympic torch relay through the country to avoid attracting crowds a day after the Tokyo Games flame was lit in ancient Olympia.

“The Hellenic Olympic Committee has decided that the handover ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, on Thursday, March 19, will take place at the Panathenaic Stadium behind closed doors,” it said in a statement on Sunday.

The central Athens stadium, site of the 1896 Games, usually attracts thousands of spectators to the handover ceremony to the next host city of winter and summer Games every two years.

Greece had three fatalities from the disease and 228 confirmed cases by late Saturday.

“Following the orders of the Greek State in order to contain the coronavirus pandemic and for the protection of public health no accreditation cards issued will be valid,” the country’s Olympic Committee said.