Badminton World Federation welcomes postponement of Tokyo Olympics

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday welcomed the decision of postponing the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games due to the global rise of the coronavirus pandemic.

Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], Mar 25 : The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday welcomed the decision of postponing the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games due to the global rise of the coronavirus pandemic.

"BWF fully supports the decision made yesterday by IOC President Thomas Bach, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, and the Tokyo Orgsing Committee (TOCOG) to 'reschedule the Games to a date beyond 2020 but no later than summer 2021'," the BWF said in a statement.

The federation will review the impact of the decision on athletes qualification and ensure a 'fair solution' for the postponed Games.

"For our athletes, we will review any impacts on the Olympic and Paralympic qualification system to ensure a fair solution is found to qualify players for the postponed Games," read a statement.

On Tuesday, for the first time in the history of the mega global event, the Olympics were postponed by a year. The decision was confirmed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the orgsing body for the event and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to reschedule the Tokyo Olympics in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IOC has, however, said that the original name of Tokyo 2020 will remain intact irrespective of the fact that it will take place next year.

"In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community," the IOC said in an official statement.

The Tokyo Olympic Games were slated to be held from July 24 to August 9, while the Paralympic Games were scheduled to be held from August 25 to September 6.

( With inputs from ANI )