Word from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the organisers of the Tokyo Olympics is that they will not rush to cancel the Games, which are just five months away, unless they are given specific advice to do so by international authorities dealing with the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

That was an expected decision at this time, for it is still too early to tell whether, by July 24 when the Games are scheduled to open, conditions would not allow for the staging of an event of the magnitude of the Olympics.

It’s not difficult to see why the IOC and the organisers in Tokyo have taken this stance, as the 2020 games have been in the planning stage for the past six and a half years, and, we are sure, billions of dollars have already been spent in preparation for the event.

The cold, hard fact, though, is that Japan, like many other countries, has been affected by this virus, and just yesterday the health ministry there reported that a British man who was on-board a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo had died. News reports have also told us that more than 700 other people on the ship have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Against that background, we note the comment of Mr Dick Pound, a senior IOC member, that at some point, “whether it’s two months out or one month out”, somebody is going to have to decide whether the Olympic Games should be held or not.

Mr Pound has stated that a lot may depend on the data that comes in as they go farther down the road. In other words, they need to ensure the credibility of the data they receive. So, to act precipitously without the right information, and to do so too early, would simply not make sense.

In the event that the decision taken is not to stage the Games in July, Mr Pound has suggested that the IOC would more likely explore the possibility of staging the event up to a year later, rather than order a blanket cancellation.

That could create a clash with the World Athletics Championships scheduled for August 6-15, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon, in the United States. If that turns out to be the case, we don’t expect that World Athletics, formerly known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, would object to moving the Championships back a year.

That way, both events would accommodate the hopes and dreams of the world’s athletes, especially those who are nearing the end of their career and who wish to compete at the highest level one last time.

But all that is left to be seen. And, as Mr Pound pointed out, a lot of arrangements — such as hotel reservations already made, the availability of facilities, ticketing, and indeed the willingness of the Japanese Government to do all this — would come into play.

This newspaper’s hope, of course, is that by the time a decision is made regarding the Tokyo Games, the threat posed by the COVID-19 would have passed. For, as we have stated before, it would be a huge disappointment to the Government and people of Japan to have utilised large amounts of human and financial resources to host the Games, only to have them cancelled or postponed.

But even more important is for the world to be rid of this virus.