The back-and-forth over whether or not Tokyo 2020 will take place on time was resolved Tuesday after a video call between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the president of the International Olympic Committee, Tomas Bach.

In a joint statement, they said: "In the current circumstances and based on the information provided by WHO today (Tuesday), the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 should be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020, but no later than summer 2021, in order to safeguard the health of the athletes, all those involved in the Olympic Games and the international community."

Earlier today, Abe had announced that he would ask for the postponement of the games and that he would meet with Bach; the Japanese pressure seems to have been convincing because within an hour all the hesitations of the IOC members and contradictory signals were dispelled.

As recently as Sunday, Bach had announced that the official decision would be made in four weeks.

The official date has not yet been announced.