The International Olympic Committee, through its most senior member, Dick Pound, said in an interview with AP that it will take three months to determine whether the 2020 Olympics will be held in Tokyo as planned.

According to several media reports, the message was not alarmist but it did acknowledge a risk: "This is the new war and you have to face it. I would say that people will have to ask: 'Is this under enough control that we can trust going to Tokyo, or not?'"

"It's a big, big, big decision and we can't make it until we have solid data to base it on," he added.

Asked if he could delay the Games, he said it was difficult because of the thousands of people around the world already involved in a certain time frame.

Referring to a change of venue, he said: “Moving the venue is difficult because there are few places in the world that could think of preparing facilities in that short time to put something on,” Pound explained.

Regarding moving them up a year, he said: “You would have to ask whether you can maintain the bubble for an extra year knowing that you will alter the international sporting calendar.”