World Sailing response to joint IOC and Tokyo 2020 statement

Today [24 March 2020] the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee issued a joint statement announcing the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

 Available on the IOC website here, the statement stated, “In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.”

World Sailing, the world governing body of the sport, supports the IOC and Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee decision to ensure the health and well-being of athletes, fans and support personnel worldwide.

 World Sailing will now work in close collaboration with the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee on future planning for the hosting of the Games.

President Kim Andersen and the World Sailing Executive Office are in direct communication with the IOC Sports Department.

The IOC are engaging with every International Federation as quickly as possible to ensure they develop the necessary plans in full partnership and to ensure full transparency with a focus on information for World Sailing and the athletes.

World Sailing will work with the IOC on timing of the postponed Olympic Games, necessary adaptations to Games delivery plans and Olympic qualification systems.

In the short term, World Sailing will not hold Olympic qualification events for Africa, Asia or Europe.

World Sailing is working with the IOC on an update to the qualification system where our recommendation will be to look at hosting qualifications events in late 2020 or early 2021.

Following the IOC decision, World Sailing is working closely with the Japanese Sailing Federation, the Organising Committee of the 2020 Hempel World Cup Series Final, and will communicate decisions on the 2021 event calendar shortly.

We will keep you updated with our latest positioning and further information on Games delivery.

We will communicate further information on COVID-19 with an update from our Medical Commission in due course.

The situation is moving fast and we thank you all very much for your patience during this difficult period.