but the i.o.c. stance has come under a welter of criticism both from within and without the organization canadian i.o.c. member hayley wickenheiser a 4 tame ice hockey gold medalist with canada called it insensitive and irresponsible reigning olympic pool vault champion catarina stephanides of greece said being asked to train every day meant the i.o.c. was risking athletes' health no not just in 4 months time. in tokyo the count don't clock ticks down the seconds till the games but olympic fever is notably absent in a city that has also fallen victim to the coronavirus market if we say will hold the olympics with fans in the stadiums then without doubt people from all over the world will travel here that increases the risk of death a virus can be unknowingly reintroduced and that worries me a lot watching. others worry about the impact on japan should the games not take place. on our shores he told you the games are one thing. what worries me a lot more. is what it would all mean for the economy. fo

the irresponsibility and incompetence of the i.o.c. have led to athletes wasting plenty of their time and money in the system created by i.o.c. officials and convenient only for them athletes have almost 0 chance to prove themselves not guilty we demand the c.i.s. set a new precedent and we want fact compensation for damage to their finances and reputations such a serious organization does not have the right to deliver accusations in such an unprofessional way. it's worth reminding here that the future of the entire russian sport is now in the hands of course as well because the separate case that the court is considering right now is the one against why the world anti-doping agency that russia has when water banned russia for 4 years from but just a basin in almost all major competitions and just think for a 2nd if these allegations that watch and signatures were forged proved to be true that could send on that case as well because that case largely stems from what russian gov blew the whistle on back in the day so it is an interestin

the i.o.c. decision came after the canadian olympic and paralympic committee has issued their agreement to not allow athletes to compete at the games had gone on as planned canada sent 314 athletes of the 2016 games in rio 'd the year one of the top 10 largest delegations in attendance many athletes are unable to train as normal due to code 19 putting their participation at risk countries including norway australia and brazil have called for the i.o.c. to postpone the games that canada was the 1st to threaten to not send their athletes through a joint statement the canadian committees said quote this is not solely about athletic health it's about public health with kovan $1000.00 in the associated risks it is not safe for our athletes and the health and safety of their families of the broader canadian community to continue training towards these games canadian olympians though they took to social media to voice their support for the decision to miss rosie maclennan saying it is an honor to repre

neither japan nor the i.o.c. wanted to jeopardize their multi-billion dollar gain there are probably going to be thousands if not hundreds of thousands of contracts being entered into and all of that are going to have to be poured over and up to that. next few months if not years to decide where liability really who knows. bach a former friend has always positioned himself as a friend of the athletes but for tack my fright out the events of the past week of showing a lack of leadership through instead of the dog being a strong leader means giving some direction to those affected by the decisions you take. but the decision was to late it was put off it was 20 come to you for me that was not a sign of strong leadership which we were all expecting. about. for now resignation is out of the question for bok. choy last week if he was considering turning his back on the i.o.c. he replied simply. as the corona virus spreads across south america governments are imposing drastic restrictions to try and contain the pandemic

the i.o.c. decision came after the canadian olympic and paralympic committee has issued their agreement to not allow athletes to compete at the games had gone on as planned canvas and $314.00 athletes of the 2016 games in rio 'd the year one of the top 10 largest delegations in attendance many athletes are unable to train as normal due to code 19 putting their participation at risk countries including norway australia and brazil have called for the i.o.c. to postpone the games that canada was the 1st to threaten to not send their athletes through a joint statement a canadian committees said quote this is not solely about athletic health it's about public health with kovan $1000.00 in the associated risks it is not safe for our athletes and the health and safety of their families of the broader canadian community to continue training towards these games canadian olympians though they took to social media to voice their support for the decision to miss rosie maclennan saying it is an honor to repr

to 24 hours expired tonight we'll see what the i.o.c. says but i'd just like to remind that it is not the only case involving russians in the cas under review right now there's also a major case where the world anti-doping agency banned russia from holding and participating in all sports competitions for the next 4 years that is a big is going on there and just imagine for one second if this particular case they find and they prove that russian girls testimonies were falsified essentially with the false signatures this could you know have very large reverberations for the other big case but obviously we'll have to wait and see what the reaction from the i.o.c. comes tonight day for the russians for sure get updates from you in the studio thanks for that up though. well over to israel our turnout in the latest election is thought to have been the highest in more than 2 decades that's despite voters are going to head to the polls for the president of the 3rd time in less than a year it seems embattled prime minister benjamin netanyahu has

and the i.o.c. president thomas bach had to type and they had to make that decision and they were even talking about the last time the take care lympics were postponed and that was back in 1040 because of world war to and at the time they were moved to hell thinking but then eventually they were cancelled and it went on the at catherine could with say that potentially happen here. these games will not be cancelled and i never thought. that word was mainly darren i was in them but dick pound used to be very powerful now not so much and it kind of threw a few people and one of the reasons it was out there as well as biggest crowds the i.o.c. did they did consider the insurance and labor. bit the more you think about it the more perspective makes perfect sense of course it presents she challenges of course it affects the calendar disposing of the broadcasters the stakeholders but we are in a crisis the world has never seen before so why wouldn't the i.o.c. just come out and say i know we can do this bu

of tokyo rose as the i.o.c. and i've been saying another another speedy today and the expected a decision to come well within the deadline the i.o.c. don't themselves because this is the big one sport all over the world has stopped there's no sport of the any it's all been played and everyone has an interior pics and so let's just get the names out there and then all the detail can come in due course so at least i will saying that's now because of the pressure that we saw over that's our statement canada and australia by saying that they wouldn't be sending athletes to that to the games is that what pushed it over the line. you know that really has actually happened to sonora rather than hinted when people saw canada australia or poland and germany another sign that we really urge you to convince of that actually was welcomed by the young go see it actually helps their position legally in terms of how it's framed and actually led them into a position where they knew that time was running out to make this decisio

one for spectators present bath said he is 100 percent in agreement and we've also heard from the i.o.c. now officially that the games are postponed we don't actually have a set date yet but it could be round about a year now tokyo's governor and japan's a limp dicks minister have said basically it will not have any later than orcus 2021 it seems like this really was just a matter of time mark yes i mean there was so much pressure on there so it's amazing how quickly it's gone it was actually only sunday that the i.o.c. 1st mooted the idea of a postponement then yesterday on monday shinzo abbey mention it for the 1st time he said it was possibly inevitable and then suddenly on tuesday we have a decision there o.c. on sunday had actually given themselves 4 weeks to make a decision in fact this is news come in just 2 days that shows how much pressure there was you had canada saying they're not going to send a team you had a strategy of saying something similar and many other nations as well there was just no way in the current situation the olympics could happen in 2020 despite that it's

the irresponsibility and incompetence of the i.o.c. have led to athletes wasting plenty of their time and money in the system created by i.o.c. officials and convenient for them athletes have almost 0 chance to prove themselves not guilty we demand the c.i.s. set a new precedent and we want fact compensation for damage to their finances and reputations such a serious organization does not have the right to deliver accusations in such an unprofessional way it's worth reminding here that the future of the entire russian sport is now in the hands of kos as well because the separate case that the court is considering right now is the one against wada the world anti-doping agency that russia has when water banned russia for 4 years from but dissipation in almost all major competitions and just think for a 2nd if these allegations that raj and signatures were forged prove to be true that could send liberations on that case as well because that case largely stems from what russian gov blow the whistle on back in the day so it's is an interest

neither japan nor the i.o.c. wanted to jeopardize their multi-billion dollar gain there are probably. hundreds of thousands of. bark for me. as always positioned himself as a friend of the athletes but. the events of the past week of leadership. if you could but all being a strong leader means giving some direction to those affected by the decisions you take. but the decision was too late it was put off it was can he come back to you for me that was not a sign of strong leadership which we were all expecting. about. for now resignation is out of the question for barack. last week if he was considering turning his back on the i.o.c. he replied simply no. self isolation across europe hasn't stopped the rotterdam philharmonic from performing what you might call a confinement concerto the musicians came together virtually from their homes with each playing their part the resulting video has been watched online more than a 1000000 times in the last day well you know with their performance of beethoven's ode to joy. ev

or talk of the more i suggested to the i.o.c. president thomas spark that the games be perspiring for a year and he was 100 percent in favor of that or you'll forgive me it's a decision that was not taken lightly or willingly but pressure had been mounting from athletes and sports federations. canada had already announced it would not be sending competitors if the games took place. if you got a phone i would use that we have agreed with the i.o.c. that we will stay in close contact to make sure that the elim pick and paralympic games will be able to take place eventually then we can send a message that humanity has overcome coronavirus because of the situation of the day. this is the 1st time the olympic games have been postponed and it's a mammoth logistical task contracts need to be renegotiated tickets for sold out venues transferred all returned and post-game sales of apartments in the olympic village will have to be put on hold no new date has been set for the tokyo olympics . and for more i'm joined here for example now by

after veteran international committee member dick pound said the i.o.c. reached a decision to postpone the 2020 summer games 24 hours later the japanese government and the i.o.c. finally confirmed the news japanese prime minister shinzo ave offered the explanation take a listen. joe if you will in life based on the current situation in the us we have made a proposal to consider perspiring on the games by about a year to ensure that the world's athletes can play in the best conditions and to have a safe and secure tournament for the audience i received an answer from i.o.c. president that he 100 percent agrees it was agreed that the tokyo lympics and paralympics would be held by the summer of 2021 of the latest. the formal announcement came after multiple countries said they would not send a delegation to tokyo if the games went on as planned on july 24th the olympics have never been rescheduled due to a pandemic with the 196-094-1904 games being cancelled due to world war in rio 2016 summer games they were affected by the years but they continued to go on

president thomas bach say as for now it will be business as usual the i.o.c. the organizing committee the host city of tokyo the government of japan and in particular the world health organization really remain very confident with regard to the safety of these games 2020 i would like to encourage all the athletes to their preparation for the olympic games tokyo 2020 with great confidence and with steam. in the german cup quarter finals and she's denied defending champions by in munich defeated hosts shall go one nil to advance in the day's other fixture f.c.s. became the 1st ever 4th division side to advance to the semifinals after beating fortunate distilled of 76 on penalties the draw for the semi's will be held on march 8th and the remaining quarter final fixtures will be played later on wednesday. and a reminder of the top story we're following for you moderate u.s. president presidential candidate joe biden has taken the lead in the democratic party's simply choose day primaries he's projected to win at least 8 same states while leftist but any step by an

the i.o.c. decision is in line with what i've said we want to hold the events in its complete form if that becomes difficult we will think of the athletes 1st and foremost. we may have no option but to consider postponing the games or. committee. mark where do you think we are hearing these words from bob a now that the pressure to postpone simply become too much yes it's become overwhelming and especially from the athletes themselves i mean it's very hard to find an athlete who actually wants to go to the olympics this year canada the olympic committee there is going to even further they've effectively boycotted any games this year they said in a statement it's not safe for our athletes their families and the broader canadian community astray has said something similar they said they had to make a call now and basically tell their affleck's to train for 2021 because obviously with the coronavirus pandemic all the athletes training schedules have been completely up in the air everything's all ov

president thomas bach says for now it will be business as usual the i.o.c. the organizing. the whole city of tokyo the government of japan and in the world health organization really remain very confident with regard to the safety of these olympic games talk your 2020 i would like to encourage all the athletes to their preparation for the olympic games tokyo 2020 with great confidence and with foreign steam a reminder of the top story we're following for you. moderate presidential candidate joe biden has opened up an early lead in the democrats in the democratic party's super tuesday primaries he's projected to win at least 7 states by leftist very standards bernie sanders has won 2 voters in 14 states are deciding who should take a donald trump in the race for the white house. that's all for now but business news is up next kate ferguson remembers a visit. at our web site to keep up to date with all the latest news and information and told me a lot of things which. the. massive drama competition drive marketing number status here fight at sac intuition love hate money. fan

last week if he was considering turning his back on the i.o.c. he replied simply no.bellaver is has been a major exception in these times most countries have practically canceled public life including sports matches but bella versus football league has been playing on and despite the health concerns fans as you can see shying away. most of europe has suspended sporting events and large gatherings it's not been one get a crowded football stadium is already a jarring sight but the new normal in belarus is still the old normal and top flight matches like saturday's main study are still underway in front of full houses. albeit with some coronavirus precautionary measures included and football isn't the only thing much of life has gone largely unchanged in the eastern european country the authoritarian state has long had extremely tight travel restrictions and so far has reported only a few cases of the virus president alexander that has encouraged people to continue business as usual claiming that working with tractors and in the fields has healing power for agricultural

matter but prior to the announcer president said athletes would not have their voices ignored the i.o.c. decision came after the canadian olympic and paralympic committees issued their decision not to allow athletes to compete in their games had they gone on as planned and manila that is really an interesting thing there to see that a country such as biggest can of they had 340. teen athletes compete in the 2016 real games they are one the large delegations they will not be in the 10s if it still went on and a lot of athletes are not able to train as normal due to the coach at 19 putting their participation at risk countries including norway australia and brazil called for the i.o.c. to postpone the games but canada was the 1st to threaten to not send any at all 3 joint state of the canadian committees said this is not solely about athlete help it is about public health with kobe 1000 in the associated risk it is not safe for our athletes in the health and safety of their families and the broader canadian community of athletes to continue training for these games. and canadian libyans t

in turn the i.o.c. itself is going to have to contemplate to what extent they they can provide some kind of recompense or remedy to the situation that they now face with broadcasters but this is only broadcasters you know we've got to factor in sponsors and commercial partners and athletes and so it is just a huge huge not so much jigsaw puzzle it's more like a huge the daku that's going to require an awful lot of calculation or awful lot of numbers and making sure that in the end the sums come out right for everyone. with the ice hockey season on hold an equipment maker is doing what they can to help those fighting the coronavirus pandemic canadian company bauer have switched from making visors that protect players from the puck to making these full face shield for medical stuff on the front line starting production on monday and hope to make around 2000 a day. and that's all the sports news for now more coming up again later next. thanks very much indeed for a website al jazeera dot com is the address

i.o.c. president thomas back had been playing for time saying on sunday that the decision would be made within the next 4 weeks but pressure from athletes and associations has grown massively canada became the 1st country to announce that they would not send any athletes to the games shortly followed by australia where the local m.p. committee is demanding a delay if you are certainly to the athletes to get into. that's the most important thing over the weekend in japan where public life is yet to be restricted as in other countries 50000 people gathered to catch a glimpse of the olympic flame the country is experiencing a growth in coronavirus case numbers and experts have been warning of the danger of a wave of infections simulate of those seen in europe plans are now being made to scale back the olympic torch relay due to start on thursday for the games themselves postponement is looking increasingly inevitable. and we have mark meadows from sports with us to tell us more hey mark it does

well despite the uncertainty i.o.c. president the i.o.c. president says that for now it's business as usual the i.o.c. the organizing. the host city of tokyo the government of japan and in 50 kilo the world health organization we remain very confident with regard to those that say so these there would be games tokyo 2020 i would like to encourage all the athletes to continue with their preparation for the olympic games tokyo with 2020 with their great confidence and with the form steam. now some football in the german cup quarter finals on tuesday night defending champions by a munich defeated hosts shaka one nil to advance in the day's other fixture f.c. became the 1st ever 4th division side to advance to the semifinals after beating fortuna disallowed off $76.00 on penalties the draw for the 70s will be held on march 8th and the remaining quarter final fixtures will be played later on a wednesday. and just reminder of the top stories we're following for you here today on g.w. news the in the in the u.s. race for the democratic presidentia

because the present the i.o.c. had some interesting thoughts about how he wants the 21 olympics to be take a listen you know we'll have johnson deal but you need a life to make their olympic dream coming true even in these uncertain times we're all going through it together. and. want to see the olympic flame at the end of the. that that's a good positive notion coming from the i.o.c. but it's really interesting namely that now that 48 hours after canada was like we're not sending anybody if you're going to hold them absolutely not and they're one of the 10 largest largest delegations in rio in 26000 so having canada pull out and say we're not doing this if you're still going to have this that is the huge thing and the i.o.c. i think didn't have any choice there hands forced it seems that was your other any details on when and how they're going to reschedule reschedule the olympics or is it all up in the air is it still going to happen in japan i mean where was this or do you know there are so many questions that u

the i.o.c. has been and japan have been resistant to really get out ahead of this. well for starters there's a lot of money that's plunged into making an olympics happen start with the broadcasters who fork over billions of dollars to get rights to the games and they happen it's in a specific pocket of time in the summer july and august when there's not much else happening on the sports calendar so postponing creates problems for that potential sport calendar unless you push it back an entire year within japan prime minister shinzo hobday has made the olympics essentially his pet project and he's been pushing it from the beginning from way back in 2013 when he stood in front of the international olympic committee and told them that everything was under control at fukushima even though it really wasn't under control the i.o.c. bought it and gave tokyo the olympics and shinzo obvious plunged a lot of political capital into making these games happen another factor is the international of the committee itself it kind of lived under the monitor the games must go on wheth

after a call with all impact federations i.o.c. president thomas boxset humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel these olympic games tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel. the so-called cherry blossom lympics in the spring had been considered to avoid the summer heat but organizers preferred to have more time to deal with the perspiring mint. hi we feel it's better to hold the games next year at some a time for the sake of transportation volunteers and ticket holders around the world to be a society for athletes to fully prepare we need to give them as much time as possible to the hole that will to acquittal. there are many challenges ahead including ensuring the venues will still be available to use next year but for the athletes at least there is now some clarity in the most unclear of times. the pyramids in egypt have stood through thousands of years of human disasters pandemics wars and famines now as the coronavirus wreaks havoc around the world the pyramids are being used to project a message of gratitu

president thomas boss says for now it's business as usual the i.o.c. the organizing. the host city of tokyo the government. and in 50 kilo the world have organization we remain very confident with regard to the success of these wouldn't be games tokyo 2020 i would like to encourage all the athletes to continue with their preparation for the olympic games tokyo with 2020 with great confidence and with the form of steam. this is news and these are our top stories primary elections in 14 u.s. states have made former vice president joe biden and senator bernie sanders a clear front runners for the democratic presidential nomination biden holds a slim lead in delegates and one more states sanders is projected to win in california. tornadoes hit the southern u.s. state of tennessee on super tuesday voting was disrupted around the capital nashville which was hit by one of the twisters the search for bodies is continuing with the death toll rising to 24. thank european commission president says europe will provide greece all the support it needs to deal with a surge of migran

if the i.o.c. the right to cancel the games if they are not held this year but that the contract could be interpreted as allowing postponement just to spite the uncertainty the i.o.c. president says it's business as usual. the organizing. the whole. world. they should. remain. with. these. 2020 i would like to reach. reparation for the. great. form steam. and just reminder the top story we're following for you here today on the news in the race u.s. race for the democratic presidential nomination. has sealed his comeback after nationwide wins in 9 of the super tuesday primary states senator bernie sanders looks set to bag the biggest electoral. california disappointing results for former new york mayor mike bloomberg senator mean that they may have to reassess their campaign. coming up next a swiss vet fights in a wildlife park in the congo by train bloodhounds sonar next. coming up just a minute remember you can find all the latest news information. dot com. news stream on twitter thanks want to.

and whether or not they choose to to take some kind of action against the i.o.c. in turn the i.o.c.itself is going to have to contemplate its to what extent they they can provide some kind of recompense or remedy to the situation that they now face with broadcasters but this is only broadcast as you know we've got to factor in sponsors and commercial partners and athletes. and so it is just a huge huge not so much jigsaw puzzle it's more like a huge saddam who is going to require an awful lot of calculation or awful lot of numbers and making sure that in the end the sums come out right for everyone and just like many other sports ice hockey is on hold but now an equipment make a sting what they can to help those fighting the coronavirus pandemic canadian company bauer have switched from making choices that protects players eyes from the park to making these full face shields for medical staff on the front line now the juices start production on monday and hope to make around 2000 of the masks a day. it's good to see them doing something good for the rest the world that is all the sp

and in a blow for the organizers of the tokyo olympics the i.o.c. has announced that all qualifying tournament for boxing have been suspended due to the corona virus outbreak the european qualifiers were underway in london over the weekend but will now be halted after an initial decision to continue without spectators the i.o.c. aim to still complete qualifying and it may or june but the olympics governing body is holding executive talks on choose day to discuss the latest developments. you're watching t w news i'll be back at the top of the hour with the headlines don't forget you can get all the latest news and information around the clock on our web site that's d.w. dot com thanks for joining us. each still tells my story. on the people who climbed to me built dedicated lives to me. i am not too dumb to come. on this trip on mine.

of arbitration for sport panel of arbitrators has accepted the statement about food signatures in i.o.c. documents and has ordered the international olympic committee to provide an explanation within $24.00 was the i.o.c. hasn't commented publicly on the allegation that the key signatures were forged the athletes are seeking monetary compensation for the damage to their careers their lawyer says a decision is expected in the next few weeks and that he is optimistic that they will win the case. i want to point out that the question of religion go signatures is not our only argument we always expected that our would be absolved of guilt by cia as on the basis of our the evidence that we have collected however the question regarding signatures arose on the eve of the court hearing we initially got concerned regarding one particular signature after that we conducted a fool examination of all the signatures as well we have claimed there was forgery and expect that this will be taking into account in the future see as decision which is coming in the next few weeks. reports in the u.k. say the

and i.o.c. president thomas back to say is for now it will be business as usual. the organizing. the whole city of tokyo. the world health organization really remain very confident with regard to the success of these games. i would like to encourage lead to their preparation for the olympic games. with great. force of steam. in the german cup finals on cheese day night defending champions by an munich defeated host shall go one nil to advance in the days of the fixture f c's up who can became the 1st ever 4th division side to advance to the semifinals off to beating fortunate decile golf $76.00 on penalties the draw for the semi's will be held on march 8th and the remaining quarter final fixtures will be played later on wednesday coming up next ots and culture news with current helps to remember it's a visit to keep up to date with the latest news and information i'm told me a lot of on the news continues at the top of the hour thanks for watching. they were forced into a nameless mass. their bodies your tools through. the history of the slave trade is africa's history.

and of course i.o.c. is working closely with w h s for us we would like to overcome the spread of the infection i'm told the olympics as planned and i start. yes so for now the olympics going ahead as planned accordingly but i mean so many major events announcing either cancellations or postponements really the olympics is starting to look like an outlier here it is and i can't help but shake my head at what he just said i mean it seems to me that he's in a state of the japanese government is almost in a state of denial and there's also an element of wishful thinking and i get it from their perspective obviously the government billions of dollars into these games and if they use them if they can't so then they will be in the minus but at the same time it's a huge risk hosting these games lead allowing them because you are putting lives at risk you are asking you are asking hundreds and thousands of hands and athletes to come to japan literally around the world yes yeah and that's how disease spreads that'

i'm there with this pick flame heads to tell you there's dissent amongst i.o.c. officials one of it's. responsible to home. countries across southeast asia racing to track hundreds of people who may have been infected with the coronavirus during an event in malaysia that country's shut its borders to all travelers after registering 2 deaths and 790 cases maybe 2 thirds of those are linked to a religious gathering of 16000 people in the capital straightly and being told not to leave the country it's declared a human biosecurity emergency giving the government the power to seal off cities and impose curfews the united states has announced a one trillion dollar plan in a bid to try to lessen the economic fallout but that doesn't seem to have calm financial markets and it's only patients are being moved to a new treatment center in rome more than 30000 italians are infected the death toll has now passed 2500 let's go 1st to kuala lumpur about 0 florence louis you can tell us more about the shutdown there how is it going help people behaving. well it's relatively quie