Olympics chief Thomas Bach hopes new date for Tokyo Games will be decided soon

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach hopes a decision on a new date for the Tokyo Games can be agreed “as soon as possible”.

The Games were put back to 2021 on Tuesday after the IOC and Japanese organisers were warned by the World Health Organisation that the virus spread was accelerating across the planet.

Bach said in a conference call on Wednesday morning that a call would take place with the 33 international sports federations on Thursday to discuss the matter.

“We have to see with them what the options are,” he said.

“After having consulted with them we also have to take into account the sporting calendar around the Olympic Games and many many other issues.

“We should come to a solution as soon as possible, but first priority should be the quality of the decision, to really be able to take the input of all stakeholders into account.”

Bach said a task force called Here We Go had been set up, with members drawn from the IOC’s co-ordination commission and the Tokyo 2020 organising committee.

Bach admitted finding the right point in the calendar was “a challenging question”.