The postponement to 2021 of the Olympic Games in Tokyo because of the coronavirus pandemic will cost the International Olympic Committee (IOC) "several hundred million dollars", its president Thomas Bach said on Wednesday. "We already know that we have to shoulder several hundred million US dollars of postponement costs," the German wrote in a letter to the Olympic movement, warning that, while the IOC would honour its financial obligations to Tokyo, it would probably have to make cuts. "We also need to look into and review all the services that we provide for these postponed Games," he said.

"The IOC will continue to be responsible for its share of the operational burden and its share of the costs for these postponed Games." The IOC, which has approximately $1 billion (926 million euros) in reserves, took the historic decision to postpone the Games, scheduled to open on July 24, until July 23 to August 8, 2021. If the coronavirus pandemic is not brought under control within a year, the Games cannot be postponed again and will be cancelled, the head of the organising committee (COJO) Yoshiro Mori warned on Tuesday.