The IOC has given itself a four week deadline to come to a decision
Broadcasters will be watching on as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics look less and less likely to go ahead.
Australia and Canada have both made it clear that they cannot compete in the games if they go ahead this summer, and it is possible that other nations will make the same decision if the IOC doesn’t make its position clear soon.
The governing body has given itself a four-week deadline to come to a decision on the event, which had been planned to be held this summer, starting on 24 July.
After originally going along with the IOC’s plan, Australia has now decided against competing in the competition as is. Australian Olympic Committee chief executive Matt Carrol said: “Last Thursday was a different set of circumstances to standing here today. There has been dramatic change in our own country and across the world.”
“We have athletes based overseas, training at central locations around Australia as teams and managing their own programs. With travel and other restrictions this becomes an untenable situation.”
This could leave broadcasters in a difficult position. Both Eurosport and the BBC will have been planning to fill much of their schedules with Olympics coverage this summer. However, now they will possibly be unable to, and it leaves the question of what they will replace it with.
BT Sport and Sky Sports have both had to deal with similar situations due to the cancellation and postponement of most elite level sport. The two pay-tv broadcasters have turned to documentaries and archive footage to plug the gap for now.