KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): As the International Olympic Committee launched into detailed talks that could lead to the postponement of the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, there was disagreement Monday over whether a decision had already been reached, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.

According to the Los Angeles Times, IOC vice president Anita DeFrantz responding to a question about the COVID-19 pandemic causing a postponement said: “I think that might be a bit premature.”

However, longtime IOC member Dick Pound of Canada in an interview with USA Today yesterday said: “It is my view that the IOC has decided to postpone the Games. They’ve fired the gun; now it is just a matter of putting shape to the exercise.”

According to CNN, the Games were scheduled to take place in Japan from July 24 to Aug 9, but there have been calls to cancel or put off the event until later in the year or 2021 as the world grapples with the pandemic, which has killed thousands globally.

CNN said Pound's comments followed the International Olympic Committee's executive board saying it is considering postponing — but not canceling — the Games. Pound said he was speaking for himself, not the IOC. He is the longest-serving IOC member but does not serve on the executive board.

Pound said: "I see no other rational interpretation of the statements made by the IOC yesterday. If there was to be a cancellation, that would have been easy to announce; if carrying on with the original plan, there was no need for a communication. That leaves postponement."

The IOC board has said it is considering several options to deal with the ongoing outbreak, including modifying plans to allow the 2020 Tokyo Games to begin on schedule July 24 or changing the start date for the Games.

The IOC executive board ruled out canceling the Games, saying it would "destroy the Olympic dream of 11,000 athletes" and all those who support them, according to a letter to athletes from IOC President Thomas Bach.

Mark Adams, a spokesman for the IOC, told CNN, "It is the right of every IOC member to interpret the decision of the IOC (executive board) which was announced yesterday."

The Olympics have never been rescheduled in peacetime. In 1916, 1940 and 1944, the Games were canceled because of world wars.

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