Tokyo Olympics will be postponed until 2021, says IOC member Dick Pound

The summer Olympics, set to be hosted in Tokyo, will be postponed until 2021, says International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe stated on Sunday a decision regarding the Games was due to be decided within four weeks.

However, the decision appears to have been accelerated after a number of competing nations voiced their anguish over the matter.

Team GB have confirmed they would not likely be able to take a team to Tokyo even if the games were to go ahead.

Elsewhere, Canada also stated they would not be taking their athletes to Tokyo, while Australian athletes have been told to prepare for 2021.

Pound says the postponement will have "huge ramifications" moving forward, with the details expected to be worked out in the next four weeks.

“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound told USA Today.

“The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”

“It will come in stages,” he said. “We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.”