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LAUSANNE — The International Olympic Committee said Sunday that postponing the 2020 Olympics is one of its options as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, but that cancellation of the Tokyo showpiece was "not on the agenda".

The IOC has faced strong pressure to push back the Games, scheduled from July 24 to August 9, from sporting federations and athletes worried about the health risk as the COVID-19 global death tally went past 13,000 on Sunday.

IOC president Thomas Bach said a decision on when the Games take place would be made "within the next four weeks".

"Human lives take precedence over everything, including the staging of the Games," Bach wrote in an open letter to athletes.

"We have, as indicated before, been thinking in different scenarios and are adapting them almost day by day."

But, he added that "there are significant improvements in Japan" and he still had hopes the Games could be held on schedule, even if that would present logistical difficulties.

"A final decision about the date of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 now would still be premature," he said.

Bach explained that the IOC was discussing its options with health authorities and stakeholders.

"We are confident that we will have finalised these discussions within the next four weeks."

He made clear that there would a Games in Tokyo at some point.

"Cancellation would not solve any problem and would help nobody," Bach said. "Therefore it is not on our agenda."

Thumbs down

The idea of holding the Games on schedule has drawn a swelling chorus of objections.

On Sunday, nine-time Olympic track and field champion Carl Lewis, as well as the head of French athletics added their voices to the US and French swimming federations, the US and Spanish athletics federations, the Norwegian Olympic Committee and past and current athletes.

Sprinter and long jumper Lewis, who won gold at four different Olympics, told Houston television station KRIV, that he backed calls for postponement.

"I just think it's really difficult for an athlete to prepare, to train, to keep their motivation if there's complete uncertainty. That's the hardest thing," he said.

"I think a more comfortable situation would be two years and put it in the Olympic year with the Winter Olympics [Beijing 2022] and then make it kind of a celebratory Olympic year."

World Athletics, the governing body of track and field, said they were "ready to work with the IOC and all sport on an alternative date".

"World Athletics welcomes discussions with the IOC to postpone the Tokyo Olympic Games and wrote to the IOC earlier today to relay this feedback from its Area Presidents, Council and athletes," it said in a statement.

On Saturday, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe told AFP that the sporting world was in "uncharted territory".

"I don't think we should have the Olympic Games at all costs, certainly not at the cost of athlete safety," said Coe.

US media reported on Sunday that American athletes had voted during a virtual town hall with US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) officials and given Tokyo the thumbs down.

Almost three-quarters of the 300 athletes who met online with USOPC supported delaying the Games, USA Today reported.

In all, 70 per cent of the athletes supported a postponement with another 23 per cent saying it would depend on the consequences, according to details supplied by a member of the USOPC Athletes Advisory Council.

'Really selfish'

Almost a quarter wanted a decision no later than April 15, while 18 per cent wanted an immediate decision.

"I feel the IOC is being really, really selfish in trying to push it," US hammer thrower Gwen Berry said. "And there's no need to push it."

US swim and athletics trials to determine the nation's two largest Olympic delegations are set for June.

"The right and responsible thing to do is to prioritise everyone's health and safety and appropriately recognise the toll this difficult situation has, and continues to take, on our athletes and their Olympic Games preparations," said USA Track and Field chief Max Siegel.

"For those reasons, USATF is respectfully requesting that the USOPC advocate to the IOC for the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games."

The head of the French athletics federation said postponement was inevitable.

"Everyone agrees that the Games cannot be held on the dates planned," Andre Giraud said.

"If the crisis is contained by the end of May, we can envisage a postponement of the Games to the autumn. But Plan C would be a six-month or one-year postponement," he said.

PARIS — It was supposed to be a record 22-race world championship but with seven Grands Prix already either postponed or cancelled, Formula One in 2020 has become a shorter, tightly-packed and economically challenging sprint for the title.

The season-opener in Australia and F1's iconic Riviera showpiece in Monaco have been axed.

Races in Bahrain, Vietnam, China, Netherlands and Spain have also been shelved but with organisers still hoping to shoehorn them into a breathless finale once the threat of the coronavirus had subsided.

A season which should have started in Melbourne on March 14 will now not start until Azerbaijan on June 7 — at the earliest.

"It's super complicated to redo a calendar because you don't know when everything will be operational," Frederic Vasseur, the team principal of the Alfa Romeo F1 team, told AFP.

"You need to have a global vision. England is not too affected at the moment but it could be when Italy is less affected," he added in reference to the two countries which play host to most of the teams in the world championship.

There are still 15 races left on the schedule before the concluding race at Abu Dhabi on November 29.

Last weekend, Ross Brawn, the sporting director of F1, said he was optimistic of a "17-18 race" championship.

However, that was when only Australia, Bahrain, Vietnam and China had been dropped.

On Thursday, the Dutch Grand Prix, slated to make its return to the calendar for the first time since 1985 on May 3, and the Spanish event, set for May 10, were postponed.

The Monaco GP, an annual showstopper since 1955 and set for May 24 this year, was cancelled completely.

'Unchartered territory'

"We are in unchartered territory. I'm pretty optimistic that we can have a good 17-18 race championship or more," Brawn told Sky Sports.

"I think we can squeeze them in. But it depends on when the season can start."

There is wriggle room.

The traditional three-week summer shutdown in August has been scrapped to be replaced by a 21-day break in March and April while the racing season hunkers down.

The championship now becomes a frantic six-month sprint rather than a nine-month marathon.

To rescue the calendar, there is an option of two races organised on the same weekend.

"It's possible," said Brawn, eyeing the three weeks between the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 2 and at Spa in Belgium on August 30.

"One thing we have also been talking about is two-day weekends, and therefore if we have a triple header with two-day weekends, that could be an option."

F1 experimented with three races in a row in 2018 but support was lukewarm from teams who sweated over staff fatigue.

"I think what we need from the teams this year is flexibility, I think they've got to give some scope to do these things," added Brawn.

"Because we are in very unusual circumstances, and we've got to make sure we've got a season that gives a good economic opportunity for the teams.

"For sure we're going to have a quiet start. I'm sure the teams will be flexible to allow us to fit those things in."

More than ever, bank balances and income will be key in 2020 as teams and organisers grapple with the implications of a shorter, crammed season.

"The costs are not necessarily much lower if you do 18 races rather than 22," said Vasseur.

"Also, our income will be less — we do fewer races, we will have less commercial rights."

LOS ANGELES — US Olympic chiefs said Friday more time was needed to determine the fate of the Tokyo Olympics as a major US sports federation called for the Games to be postponed over the coronavirus pandemic.

In a conference call with reporters, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) chairwoman Susanne Lyons said there was no need for the International Olympic Committee to make an immediate decision on Tokyo.

"I think we would concur with the IOC to say that we need more expert advice and information than we have today to make a decision," Lyons said.

"And we don't have to make a decision. Our games are not next week, or two weeks from now. They're four months from now.

"So we are affording the IOC the opportunity to gather that information and expert advice.

"At this point in time, we do not feel that it's necessary for us to insist that they make a decision."

But just hours after Lyons' comments, USA Swimming underscored the growing divisions within US sport on the issue by calling for USOPC to request a postponement.

In an open letter to the USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland, swimming federation boss Tim Hinchey said US Olympic leaders should "advocate for the postponement" of the Tokyo Games.

"We urge the USOPC, as a leader within the Olympic Movement, to use its voice and speak up for the athletes," Hinchey wrote.

USA Swimming is the biggest US sports federation to call for a postponement.

Friday's statement came against a backdrop of mounting unease amongst athletes over the impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on their preparations for Tokyo.

Several have called on the IOC to postpone the July 24-August 9 Games, noting that restrictions imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 have wreaked havoc with training and competition schedules.

Lives 'upside down'

Hinchey said American swimmers' lives had been "turned upside down" as they scrambled to find training facilities or reconfigure schedules.

"Everyone has experienced unimaginable disruptions, mere months before the Olympic Games, which calls into question the authenticity of a level playing field for all," Hinchey said.

USA Swimming's stance found support from Bob Bowman, the former coach of Olympic star Michael Phelps, who said athletes were being placed in danger as they sought out places to train.

"My concern is as they are trying to find places to train and work out, it goes against what we're supposed to be doing to not get the coronavirus," Bowman told USA Today. "It's forcing them to try to do things that are contrary to our national goal right now."

Former US Olympic distance runner Kara Goucher, meanwhile, accused Olympic chiefs of placing financial considerations above athlete safety.

"Athletes are humans, they get sick!" Goucher wrote on Twitter. "Postpone so they can #ShelterAtHome w/o worrying about losing fitness to competitors!

"You are losing any credibility that you care about the wellness of athletes! Athletes over money please!"

The USOPC responded Friday to Hinchey's letter in a joint statement from Hirshland and Lyons.

"The USOPC has complete and total empathy for the athlete community as they manage the terrible stress and anxiety caused by the current lack of certitude regarding the Tokyo Games," the statement said.

"We understand that the athletes have concerns about training, qualification and anti-doping controls, and that they want transparency, communication and clarity to the full extent possible.

"The USOPC has made it clear that all athletes should put their health and wellness, and the health and wellness of the greater community, above all else at this unprecedented moment.

"At the same time, and as it relates to the Games, we have also heard from athletes that they want the Olympic and Paralympic community to be very intentional about the path forward — and to ensure that we aren't prematurely taking away any athletes' opportunity to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games until we have better clarity."

Hirshland told reporters that athletes were not unanimously in favour of the Olympics being postponed.

"As diverse as our athletes are, so too are their perspectives, and that adds to the complication factor," Hirshland said.

"There are athletes out there for whom this feels like their only opportunity, their last chance. I don't think we're in a position where all athletes have a unanimous point of view."

She said additional mental health resources were being made available to athletes as they grapple with "significant anxiety."

"We are all living with a high degree of uncertainty and a lack of clarity, and we absolutely hope that we can have clarity as soon as that's practical," Hirshland said.

LAUSANNE — FIFA confirmed the postponement of the new Club World Cup on Wednesday as it pledged to take a series of "exceptional measures" to protect football in the face of the coronavirus crisis, including a possible support fund for financially stricken clubs and associations.

World football's governing body accepted it would not play the new 24-team Club World Cup in June and July of 2021 after it was announced on Tuesday that the European Championship and Copa America would both be moved to that period.

The two tournaments were postponed by 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, and FIFA president Gianni Infantino had already said in advance of a meeting with the heads of the six continental ruling bodies on Wednesday that he would propose putting back the Club World Cup to later in 2021, or even to 2022 or 2023.

In the end, a statement released by FIFA simply said new dates for the highly lucrative tournament would be decided "at a later stage".

FIFA were seemingly left with little choice after Aleksander Ceferin, the president of the European game's governing body UEFA, said he had told Infantino on Tuesday "that the Club World Cup... cannot happen" in 2021 having postponed the Euro by a year. Ceferin did not indicate there was any offer of a compromise.

Ceferin has been critical of Infantino's Club World Cup plans, and UEFA and South American governing body CONMEBOL agreed together to put their continental competitions back by a year, having recently signed a cooperation agreement.

Meanwhile, FIFA announced the creation of a working group to deal with the consequences of the pandemic, including on players' contracts and transfers and to deal with the economic impact on the game.

"This exceptional situation requires exceptional measures and decisions. This crisis impacts the entire world and that is why solutions need to take into account the interests of all stakeholders around the world," said Infantino.

- 'Support fund' -

On Tuesday, as well as postponing Euro 2020 by a year, UEFA committed to finishing the European club season by the end of June but accepted that a further review will be required — it may be impossible to finish the season by then if the ongoing health crisis does not ease.

That creates a potential headache with players' contracts often expiring on June 30. Transfer window dates may need to be altered too.

The sudden stop to the football season in much of the world is also a serious concern for many clubs and leagues who already have financial worries and now risk going weeks and potentially months without collecting gate receipts and other revenues.

FIFA has cash reserves of around $1.5 billion (1.37 billion euros) and said it would "analyse if a support fund at global level will be required and how in that case concrete support mechanisms should be defined".

The body is also pledging to donate $10 million (9.1 million euros) to the World Health Organisation's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

LAUSANNE — Olympic chiefs acknowledged Wednesday there was no "ideal" solution to staging the Tokyo Olympics amid a backlash from athletes as the deadly coronavirus pandemic swept the globe.

"This is an exceptional situation which requires exceptional solutions," an International Olympic Committee spokesperson said after criticism from top athletes that they were being forced to take health risks should the July 24-August 9 Games go ahead as scheduled during the COVID-19 outbreak.

"The IOC is committed to finding a solution with the least negative impact for the athletes, while protecting the integrity of the competition and the athletes' health.

"No solution will be ideal in this situation, and this is why we are counting on the responsibility and solidarity of the athletes."

Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi and British heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson had earlier both voiced concerns after the IOC said it was "fully committed" to running the Games as scheduled from July 24.

Stefanidi, one of Greece's most prominent athletes, was scheduled to hand the ceremonial flame to Japanese officials before the Greek leg of the torch relay was scrapped over COVID-19.

"The IOC wants us to keep risking our health, our family's health and public health to train every day?" she tweeted.

"You are putting us in danger right now, today, not in 4 months."

'Zero risk consideration'

On Tuesday, minutes before the IOC statement, the Euro 2020 football tournament was delayed for a year, bowing to the crisis that has paralysed Europe and drastically curtailed international travel.

Olympic qualifying tournaments are among the swathe of sports events that have been cancelled or postponed, with only 57 per cent of athletes booking their places so far.

"It's unbelievable," said Stefanidi. "What about team sports that have to train together? What about swimming? What about gymnastics that they touch the same objects?

"There is zero consideration of the risk they are putting us in right now."

Johnson-Thompson, the world heptathlon champion, criticised the IOC for telling athletes to train "as best they can", saying it was at odds with stringent government health measures.

"I feel under pressure to train and keep the same routine which is impossible," she wrote on Twitter.

"It's difficult [to] approach the season when everything has changed in the lead-up apart from the ultimate deadline," added the Briton.

'Bigger than the Olympics'

Doubts are increasingly being expressed about holding the Olympics on time, after the outbreak that first exploded in China spread to Asia and then worldwide.

On Wednesday an Olympic gymnastics qualifier in Tokyo, doubling as a test event, became the latest competition to be cancelled.

A day earlier, the deputy head of Japan's Olympic committee said he had tested positive for coronavirus.

But the IOC insisted "there is no need for any drastic decisions at this stage", adding that "any speculation at this moment would be counter-productive".

Hayley Wickenheiser, a Canadian IOC member with four ice hockey gold medals, warned "this crisis is bigger than even the Olympics".

"From an athlete perspective, I can only imagine and try to empathise with the anxiety and heartbreak athletes are feeling right now," she said in a statement.

"The uncertainty of not knowing where you're going to train tomorrow as facilities close and qualification events are cancelled all over the world would be terrible if you've been training your whole life for this."

Wickenheiser added: "I think the IOC insisting this will move ahead, with such conviction, is insensitive and irresponsible given the state of humanity."

France's 110m hurdler Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, European champion and world bronze medallist who finished fourth at the Rio Games in 2016, told AFP a postponement was the only fair solution.

"We're not all in the same boat, there are countries which are less affected than others. In some countries athletes can train normally while we can't even access our training ground," he said.

"We are not on an equal footing when it comes to preparation. The Games should be postponed until the end of 2020, not next year."

LAUSANNE — The European championship, due to be played in June and July this year, has been postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, European football's governing body UEFA said on Tuesday.

UEFA said the new proposed dates for the tournament were June 11 to July 11 next year, as Euro 2020 becomes Euro 2021.

It said the postponement would "will help all domestic competitions, currently on hold due to the COVID-19 emergency, to be completed". 

The announcement comes after UEFA held crisis talks with its national associations as well as clubs and players bodies via videoconference, as the continent fights to deal with the health crisis.

"The health of all those involved in the game is the priority, as well as to avoid placing any unnecessary pressure on national public services involved in staging matches," UEFA said in a statement.

Most of Europe's domestic leagues have ground to a halt over the last week as football confronts its biggest issue in modern times.

Europe has become the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, with France on Tuesday joining Italy and Spain in applying strict lockdown measures and European leaders also planning to ban all non-essential travel into the continent.

More than 2,100 people have died in Italy, which was supposed to host the opening game of Euro 2020 in Rome.

The UEFA Champions League and Europa League competitions for clubs have been suspended, with both still in the last-16 stage, but postponing the European Championship means they, along with national leagues, will have the chance to be completed, assuming travel restrictions are lifted in time.

 'Full support' for changes

UEFA has set up a working group involving leagues and clubs which will try to come up with a new match calendar to allow for the season to be completed.

 Twenty of the 24 nations set to take part in the Euro have already qualified, but play-offs to determine the final four participants, due to be played this month, have been postponed.

 UEFA said those matches, and other scheduled friendlies, would now be played in June "subject to a review of the situation."

South America's equivalent of the Euro, the Copa America, also scheduled for this June and July, has also been postponed by a year, ensuring European-based players will be free to finish the season with their clubs.

The move was welcomed by national associations in countries currently battling the pandemic.

 "People's health and well-being has to be the primary concern for us all, so we fully support UEFA's decision to postpone EURO 2020," said the English FA's CEO, Mark Bullingham.

Meanwhile, French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet gave the postponement his "full support", calling it a "wise and pragmatic decision".

Knock-on effects

Euro 2020 was due to be held in 12 countries. There is no suggestion the format or number of venues will change.

The semi-finals and final are supposed to be played in London and there will be considerable knock-on effects from the postponement — the women's European Championship is scheduled to run from July 7 to August 1 next year in England, with the final at Wembley.

UEFA also planned to stage an Under-21 Euro in Hungary and Slovenia in June next year.

Moving the Euro by a year also puts UEFA on a collision course with football's world governing body FIFA, whose president Gianni Infantino has planned to stage the inaugural edition of his highly lucrative Club World Cup in June and July next year in China.

However, Infantino indicated in an open letter on Monday that FIFA will "look to find in due course solutions in a spirit of cooperation, taking into account the interests of football at all levels".

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin thanked Infantino for his intervention and for saying FIFA will do "whatever is required to make this new calendar work". 

"In the face of this crisis, football has shown its best side with openness, solidarity and tolerance," Ceferin said.

As for its club competitions, UEFA could still come to a decision to try to complete the Champions League and Europa League by curtailing the competitions, meaning ties up to the semi-finals could be decided in one-off matches.

Reports on Tuesday indicated both tournaments could conclude with a 'Final Four' meeting in the scheduled host cities — Istanbul for the Champions League and Gdansk in Poland for the Europa League.

LONDON — Liverpool could have been crowned Premier League champions on Monday for the first time in a generation at the home of local rivals Everton. Instead, the stadium will be silent.

Jurgen Klopp’s team would have needed Manchester City to lose to Burnley on Saturday to have given them a chance to seal the deal at Goodison Park.

Regardless of whether it would have happened on Monday or over the coming weeks, Liverpool’s first top-flight title for 30 years was a mere formality. 

But now fans are wondering when, or even if, they will be crowned champions after the coronavirus laid waste to the global sporting calendar.

The message coming from Liverpool is that there are more important issues than football to talk about, even with the club tantalisingly close to glory.

“I’ve said before that football always seems the most important of the least important things,” Klopp said in a statement on Friday. 

“Today, football and football matches really aren’t important at all.

“If it’s a choice between football and the good of the wider society, it’s no contest. Really, it isn’t.”

Klopp’s stance won him the support of World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who thanked him for his “powerful message”.

Liverpool supporters, desperate to reclaim their position at the pinnacle of the English game, agree with their German manager, saying the pandemic overshadows football.

Supporters’ union Spirit of Shankly is focusing on the damaging fallout from the COVID-19 virus.

Liverpool have stumbled in recent weeks, knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid and dumped out of the FA Cup by Chelsea.

But they have been peerless in the Premier League, leaving their rivals in their wake to race 25 points clear of defending champions Manchester City.

With Alisson Becker in goal, Virgil van Dijk marshalling the defence and their devastating front three of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, Klopp’s men have been irresistible. 

Paul Hayward, writing in the Daily Telegraph, said Liverpool should be crowned champions for the 19th time even if no more games are played.

“If a season ends too soon, its natural winning line is the point it reached before the halt was called: emphatically so, 29 games into a 38-match campaign, which is a respectable distance,” he wrote.

“’Voiding’ the 2019/20 football season would be nonsense,” he added. “Handing over the trophy at any point where clubs were forced to give up would feel morally correct.”

Brighton and Hove Albion Chief Executive Paul Barber said if the season were to be “frozen” it would be unjust on Liverpool.

“Everybody in the game appreciates what a fantastic season they’ve had and what a wonderful team they are,” he told the BBC.

“But equally it would be unjust for teams to be relegated when there are still eight, nine, ten games to play of the Premier League.”

But West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady said if the fixtures could not be completed, the only fair solution would be to declare the season “null and void”.

Writing in the Sun, Brady, whose club are just two places above the relegation zone, said: “Who knows who would have gone down or come up if the games have not actually been played in full?”

Nobody knows when football will return, but many hope Liverpool are given the chance to complete their long journey back to the top.

MIAMI — David Beckham’s six-year wait to watch his Major League Football club make its home debut, which was to have ended on Saturday, has been extended by the league’s coronavirus shutdown.

But that didn’t stop him and his family from visiting Inter Miami’s empty stadium on Saturday.

Beckham’s club was to have hosted the Los Angeles Galaxy, the MLS club where the former England and Manchester United star played from 2007 through 2012, in its first match at its temporary home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Instead, the entire league has joined all major North American sports leagues and shut down its season for 30 days due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

That left Inter Miami owner and president Beckham and his wife, Victoria, to take their four children to the empty venue and post a video on Instagram.

“Special day showing the family what we’ve built,” Beckham posted as the camera made a 360-degree tour of empty Inter Miami Stadium while music of Spice Girls — his wife’s former group — blared through the loudspeakers.

Beckham also posted messages on Friday on Instagram with photos taken from the field in the empty 20,000-seat stadium.

“It’s times like these when we are reminded of the things that are truly important in life,” Beckham posted on Instagram. “Our health. Our loved ones and looking after those that need support in our communities.

“In these moments, sports take a back seat. We must all listen to expert advice and do the right thing. Stay safe and look out for yourselves and your families.”

Inter Miami still seeks a first-ever MLS triumph, having lost 1-0 at Los Angeles FC on March 1 and 2-1 at DC United six days later.

Those matches culminated a wild six-year effort filled with setbacks and frustrations.

Beckham, 44, came to the United States in 2007, the global icon leaving Real Madrid for a deal with the Galaxy that included the option to buy an MLS expansion club at a discounted price.

Over six seasons with the Galaxy, Beckham helped raise the sport’s US profile and was a major contributor to the club’s 2011 and 2012 MLS Cup titles.

After retiring in 2013, Beckham decided to exercise his option for an MLS expansion team in 2014 and sought to build a football-specific stadium in Miami.

Struggles with city leaders and civic groups followed, location after location foiled by one problem after another, and MLS hesitated to award a franchise to a group without a stadium plan set in place.

Beckham joined with Miami-based construction magnates Jorge and Jose Mas in 2017, and that represented a turning point in his quest.

In 2018, city officials approved construction of the Miami Freedom Park complex near Miami International Airport, its centrepiece being a new 25,000-seat stadium that is expected to be ready for Inter Miami to move into in 2022.

“Everything we’ve tried to do to get this franchise up and running was a challenge,” Beckham said last month.

“There wasn’t one [easy] thing — from finding the land, thinking what kind of stadium we want, what kind of players we want, what kind of manager we want, even down to what tiles we had in the showers — everything was a challenge.

“But I wasn’t going to give up.”

OLYMPIA, Greece — The Olympic flame for the 2020 Tokyo Games was lit in ancient Olympia on Thursday amid an unprecedented health lockdown as Greece registered its first death from coronavirus.

With spectators banned, an actress dressed as an ancient Greek high priestess lit the flame using the rays of the sun reflected off a concave mirror, launching a week-long torch relay in Greece before the flame is handed to Tokyo organisers on March 19.

“Today marks the beginning of the journey of the Olympic flame to Japan,” said International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach.

“When the flame returns to Tokyo after 56 years, hope will light the way across the entire country,” he said.

Japan last hosted the summer Olympics — also in Tokyo — in 1964.

Now it seeks to use the 2020 Olympics to show the world it has regained its creative flair and innovative energy, but also as a means to highlight reconstruction following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima.

“Japan will demonstrate its groundbreaking innovation and boundless creative energy with regards to sustainability, technology and human-centred growth,” Bach said.

“The Olympic Games... will again be a symbol of hope and confidence for all Japanese people.”

But with the coronavirus causing devastation in world sport, doubts are increasingly being raised over whether the Olympics can be held as scheduled from July 24 to August 9.

Organisers have insisted the Games will go ahead as planned and the IOC has said there has not yet been any talk of cancellation or postponement.

The IOC has said it will coordinate closely with the World Health Organisation, which has now officially classified the outbreak as a pandemic.

The torch relay in Greece is scheduled to pass through 37 cities and 15 archaeological sites covering 3,500 kilometres and 842 nautical miles and will be carried by 600 runners.

Once in Japan, the relay will start from Fukushima and travel along routes eventually leading to the capital. 

Closed to the public

The hydrogen that powers the Olympic flame will be produced in the town of Namia in Fukushima, one of the worst affected areas, said Toshiaki Endo, acting president of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee.

And the torch has been partially produced from recycled aluminium originally used to build temporary housing units in the aftermath of the quake, he said.

Greek Olympic shooting champion Anna Korakaki was the initial torch bearer, the first time a woman has been chosen for the role.

She was followed by Mizuki Noguchi, gold medallist in the women’s marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Hollywood actor Gerard Butler will be among the runners once the torch relay reaches Sparta. Butler starred as the ancient Spartan King Leonidas in the 2007 epic ‘300’.

The ceremony was held without spectators after dozens of people tested positive for COVID-19 in the broader western Peloponnese. Up to 12,000 had been expected to make their way to Olympia, where the ancient Games were held.

Only 100 accredited guests from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, compared to 700 originally, were allowed to attend Thursday’s ceremony.

The dress rehearsal on Wednesday was also closed to the public and dinners and galas arranged for the torch lighting have been scrapped.

The only precedent is in 1984 when the Greek leg of the torch relay was abandoned in a protest by Greek organisers against what they saw as the commercialisation of the Los Angeles Olympics.

MELBOURNE — Formula One’s season was thrown into turmoil Friday with the Australian Grand Prix cancelled just hours before cars were due to hit the track amid fears that more races will be called off as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll.

The decision follows April’s Chinese Grand Prix being postponed and with the second race of the year in Bahrain due to be held without spectators, leaving huge question marks over the rest of the calendar.

“We will in the coming days be looking at races that are more imminent like Bahrain and Vietnam,” F1 chief Chase Carey said in Melbourne.

“And we will have further announcements and decisions on how we navigate the short-term elements of our schedule. We know there are issues there.”

The future of the Australian race, the first of the season, was also in doubt Thursday when McLaren pulled out after one of its team members tested positive for the virus.

McLaren revealed Friday that 14 other staff were now in a mandatory two week quarantine after being in close contact with the man, casting doubts on whether it will be able to compete in Bahrain even if the race goes ahead.

The McLaren employee was among eight Formula One personnel who went into isolation after showing symptoms typical of the disease this week.

The other seven — including four from the Haas team — all returned negative results.

The fast-moving developments sparked a crisis meeting between the race organisers, the FIA, teams and Formula One promoters late Thursday to discuss whether Sunday’s race should go ahead.

“Those discussions concluded with a majority view of the teams that the race should not go ahead,” they said in a joint statement just hours before the first official practice session and with fans queuing to get in.

It added while fans would be disappointed, “the safety of all members of the Formula 1 family and the wider community, as well as the fairness of the competition take priority”.

Teams quickly began packing up to leave the circuit as some fans, many travelling from overseas, fumed at the way they were treated.

“We had to find out from Twitter, not from the organisers and have been waiting here for hours in the line,” one told the Herald Sun newspaper.

World champion Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was one of the teams that requested the cancellation.

Formula One website Autosport said seven teams supported ditching the race with three — Red Bull, its sister squad AlphaTauri and Racing Point — willing to continue.

“We empathise strongly with the worsening situation in Europe, most especially in Italy, and furthermore we do not feel it would be right to participate in an event where fellow competitors such as McLaren are unable to do so through circumstances beyond their control,” Mercedes said.

European countries that are home to many of the F1 teams and journalists have had a high number of confirmed cases, notably Italy.

Hamilton — gunning to match Michael Schumacher’s record seven world crowns this season — on Thursday said he was stunned the race was still scheduled as feared mount about the spread of the epidemic.

“I am really very, very surprised that we’re here. I don’t think it’s great that we have races but it really is shocking that we’re all sitting in this room,” he said at an official pre-race press conference.

Haas driver Romain Grosjean was among the first to welcome the decision to call it off.

“No race here in Melbourne. Feels like a big thing for us as we prepared very hard for it BUT actually a very small thing compared to the challenge the world is facing right now,” he tweeted.