New Delhi: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday said that it will continue to assess and discuss the impacts caused by the postponement of the games along with the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee. "The key elements of the planning for 2021 should replicate the existing Games Delivery Plan for 2020.

Particular focus will be placed on the venues and the competition schedule, which were originally agreed by all stakeholders as the best plan for the 2020 edition.

On this basis, the Japanese side including Tokyo 2020 will request that each planned venue owner organises the Games according to this schedule on the new dates in 2021. The Japanese side will also seek understanding for these preparations," IOC said in a statement.

"On the basis of Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and all Olympic and Paralympic Movement stakeholders, in conjunction with Japanese side including the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, will explore all opportunities to optimise and streamline the scope and service levels at the Games, and reduce the costs that have been caused by the postponement.

The IOC and the Japanese side, including the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, will continue to assess and discuss jointly about the respective impacts caused by the postponement," the statement added. The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) met today for an Executive Project Review via teleconference.

IOC Coordination Commission Chair John Coates and Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi joined Tokyo 2020 President Mori Yoshiro and CEO Muto Toshiro for the meeting. The 2020 Tokyo Olympic games were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, the games will take place from July 23 to August 8 next year while the Paralympics Games will be held from August 24 to September 5, 2021.

IOC said that the process to deliver the Games in 2021 is overseen by a Joint Steering Committee which is led by Coates and Yoshiro. The meetings of the Joint Steering Committee will be held whenever necessary, in order to ensure permanent coordination and efficient decision-making.

Also, to support the Joint Steering Committee, Tokyo 2020 and the IOC will each have their own respective task forces. The "Here we go" Task Force on the IOC side, and the "New Launch" Task Force on the Tokyo 2020 side. Coates, after the meeting, said he believes that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics can stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times.

"Since the postponement of Tokyo 2020 to 2021 was agreed a few weeks ago, the strong spirit of collaboration between the IOC, the IPC, the Olympic Movement, Tokyo 2020 and the Japanese authorities has already allowed us to bring some clarity and certainty to athletes, fans and stakeholders around the world.

The principles outlined today will allow us to continue in this spirit, and to answer the many questions that remain, in as efficient a manner as possible," Coates said in a statement.

"We believe that the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times, and that the Olympic flame can be the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present. The Joint Steering Committee will give its all to ensure that this is the case," he added.

Yoshiro commented, "Soon after the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Games on 24 March 2020, Tokyo 2020 established a 'New Launch' Task Force on 26 March and we have been working since then to create a structure capable of overcoming these unprecedented challenges.

We believe that today's new step is an important achievement in advancing over the coming year what we have prepared over the past five to six years. We will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to ensure the success of the Games."