Washington D.C. [USA], Mar 23 : US President Donald Trump on Monday said that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make the 'proper decision' and hinted that the final call on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be taken by Tokyo keeping in view the coronavirus outbreak in many parts of the world.
"We will be guided by the wishes of Prime Minister Abe of Japan, a great friend of the United States and a man who has done a magnificent job on the Olympic Venue, as to attending the Olympic Games in Japan. He will make the proper decision!" Trump tweeted.
Abe had said that the health of the athletes is the priority while hinting at the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Tokyo Olympics is slated to be held from July 24 to August 9.
"If it is difficult to hold the games in such a way. We have to decide to postpone it, giving top priority to (the health of the) athletes," Kyodo News quoted Abe as saying.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Sunday said that they will make a decision within four weeks on the fate of the Olympics.
"The IOC will, in full coordination and partnership with the Tokyo 2020 Orgsing Committee, the Japanese authorities and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, start detailed discussions to complete its assessment of the rapid development of the worldwide health situation and its impact on the Olympic Games, including the scenario of postponement," the IOC said in a statement.
As the pressure mounts to postpone the Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic, Yoshiro Mori, the president of the Tokyo Olympic Orgsing Committee has said that postponing the event is not the first choice of action, but it is indeed a realistic option.
Over the past weeks, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has maintained its stand of looking to going ahead with the games as planned, but with coronavirus pandemic bringing the world to a halt, the fate of the biggest sporting event hangs in the balance.
"Postponement isn't our first course of action but we cannot consider it as a realistic option either," CNN quoted Mori as saying on Monday.
Earlier today, Canada and Australia said that they would not be sending their athletes this year because of the risks associated with the COVID-19.
The highly infectious disease, which originated from China in December last year, has so far claimed over 14,000 lives while infected more than 3,00,000 people worldwide.
( With inputs from ANI )