Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that he had agreed with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to delay the world’s biggest sporting event until next year due to the coronavirus outbreak.  In the next four weeks, the IOC will lay out the next steps and the dates when the Olympics will be held.

Countries around the world are in lockdown and many have issued social distancing guidelines as a result of the coronavirus epidemic.

It was not an easy decision.  In addition to the safety of athletes and visitors during the event, there were concerns about the risk to athletes as they train during lockdowns in their home countries.

Japan has also invested around $20 billion into the Olympic games.  Broadcasters and sponsors of the event will incur huge financial losses if the Olympic games didn’t happen as planned.

The cancellation of the Olympics clears up room in the crowded tennis calendar as tournaments think about postponing events to later in the year.