GB Badminton welcomes the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) because of the global impact of the Covid-19 virus. Given the pandemic that is affecting so many lives around the world, beyond sport, we believe this is the right decision and would take this opportunity to express our sympathies to everyone affected by coronavirus.
We would like to thank the representation and support of the British Olympic Association, British Paralympic Association and UK Sport through what would have been very sensitive negotiations during unprecedented times. We would also like to extend our sympathies to the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee who have worked tirelessly to host a Games that the world of sport would have been incredibly proud of.
But we are living, and operating, in a time of the most extraordinary challenge and we will respectfully give the Organising Committee, IOC and IPC the time to work through the unknowns at this stage and the inevitable difficulties that will emerge as a consequence of such a huge decision.
This is a tough situation for our players, coaches and support staff within our 2020 Olympic and Paralympic programmes who have worked so hard and prepared so well for the Games. While they will welcome an end to the uncertainty that has surrounded the Games in recent months, and created significant disruption to their training and competition, Tokyo 2020 has been their focus for many years, and they will be devastated not to be able to perform on the greatest sporting stage. We are aware that this decision may create great uncertainty for their futures and it is important that we support their health and wellbeing at this time.
We will continue to work closely with the British Olympic Association, British Paralympic Association and UK Sport as plans and dates emerge for a rescheduled Games in 2021.
