The 2020 Olympics is very likely to be postponed because of COVID-19

Although a final decision may not come down for another month, Japanese officials are finally discussing plans to push the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics to a later date, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Washington Post reports.

Postponing the games, but not canceling them outright, presents a number of costs and logistical hurdles, including managing competition venues for 33 different sports and the Paralympics, as well as accommodations for athletes and visitors. Then there are other competitions already scheduled for different sports around the world, not to mention how athletes who have signed up to compete in those other competitions will fare in their training and their rankings.

“What we are going to do before anything else is to start by simulating about whether we postpone one month, three months, five months, one year,” 2020 Tokyo chief said Yoshiro Mori, according to the Post report. “We need to make a simulation about the various scenarios.”

Also of concern is that crowds may gather if the organizers do indeed go through with the Olympic torch relay. More than 50,000 people (many wearing masks) came out to see it displayed on Saturday in Miyagi, according to a report in CNA. The relay is set to start on March 26.