May 21, 2020 - Sports

IOC president: Tokyo Olympics would be canceled if not held in 2021

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach in March. Photo: Denis Balibouse/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

The rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics would have to be canceled entirely if the coronavirus pandemic means they cannot be held in 2021, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach told the BBC on Wednesday.

The state of play: "You cannot forever employ 3,000, or 5,000, people in an organizing committee. You cannot every year change the entire sports schedule worldwide of all the major federations. You cannot have the athletes being in uncertainty. You cannot have so much overlapping with a future Olympic Games," Bach said.

Go deeper: Athletes who qualified for Tokyo Olympics to keep their spots in 2021

Go deeper