IOC working toward July-August Olympics in 2021 - Yomiuri

Visitors wearing protective face masks following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are seen through the Olympic rings in front of the Japan Olympics Museum, a day after the announcement of the games' postponement to 2021, in Tokyo, Japan March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Naoki Ogura

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is working with sports bodies to arrange a July-August window for the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and hopes to confirm the schedule within a month, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday.

John Coates, the IOC's Coordination Commission chief for Tokyo, told the Yomiuri the Games would have to be held between the tennis Grand Slams of Wimbledon, slated to end in mid-July, and the U.S. Open, which starts in late August.

"We want to more or less finalise the dates in four weeks' time," the paper quoted Coates as saying.

A man wearing a protective face mask due to the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID 19) walks past countdown clocks for the opening of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games that are currently covered with banners that read 'Adjusting', in Tokyo, Japan March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Coates, who is also president of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), said the summer scheduling would be dependent on avoiding clashes with the world championships for swimming (July 16-Aug. 1) and athletics (Aug. 6-15).

World Athletics boss Sebastian Coe has said the world athletics championships in Eugene, Oregon could be moved back to 2022 if necessary.

Coates told the newspaper the hope was to follow the same arrangements next year that had been planned for 2020, including holding the marathon in the northern city of Sapporo instead of Tokyo to escape the heat.

FILE PHOTO: International Olympic Committee member John Coates attends the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 135th Session in Lausanne, Switzerland, January 10, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

The AOC confirmed the Yomiuri report's veracity and also told Reuters in a statement that Coates had "proffered a view but confirms a range of options are on the table for the IOC".

The IOC and Japanese government succumbed to intense pressure from athletes and sporting bodies around the world on Tuesday, agreeing to push back the Games by as much as a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday, the Tokyo 2020 organising committee launched a taskforce to resolve issues linked to the postponement, such as reviewing dates for the Games and securing venues.

The giant Olympic rings are seen in the dusk through a tree at the waterfront area at Odaiba Marine Park after postponing Games due to the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID 19), in Tokyo, Japan March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato

No specifics have been discussed yet on the timing of the delayed Games, but a date needs to be decided as soon as possible, Hidemasa Nakamura, a senior official at Tokyo 2020, told reporters after the taskforce's first meeting,

IOC President Thomas Bach said on Wednesday "all options" were on the table for rescheduling, including holding the Games before the Japanese summer.

(This story corrects day of the week in par 9)

A woman wearing a protective face mask due to the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID 19) uses her phone next to Omega clock, which was previously used as a countdown clock for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and currently displaying current time and date, after the announcement of the games 'postponement to the summer of 2021, in Tokyo, Japan, March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim in Tokyo and Ian Ransom in Melbourne; additional reporting by Ju-min Park and Jack Tarrant, Editing by Peter Rutherford and Lincoln Feast.)

Countdown clocks for the opening of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games that are currently covered with banners that read 'Adjusting' are seen after postponing Games due to the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID 19), in Tokyo, Japan March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato