The Tokyo Olympics will either take place on the decided dates in 2021 or it will have to be cancelled, according to International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission Chairman Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant.

Beckers-Vieujant said that he is confident that the event will start on July 23 next year and that it is impossible to postpone an event of this scale more than once.

"Today everyone is sure that they will start on July 23, 2021," he told Belgian newspaper L'Avenir. "We are convinced that the Games will take place in 2021 or they won't take place.

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"It's unthinkable to keep such a project on the go for any longer considering the enormous costs and all the thousands of people involved."

The stance has been iterated in the past by IOC President Thomas Bach with the German former fencer stating that there is no contingency plan for the Olympics in case it cannot be held between July 23 and August 8 next year.

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Beckers-Vieujant said that it is "essential" that the traditional sporting calendar emerges from its COVID-19 lockdown before allowing major sporting events like the Olympics to be staged.

"All the sporting federations have to adapt to the Games' postponement. We can't envisage a similar upheaval a second time," said the President of Belgium's Olympic Committee. (IANS)