OTTAWA - Canada announced on Sunday night that it will not send Canadian athletes to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, the Canadian Olympic Committee said it will not send teams to Tokyo unless the Games, which are scheduled to start on July 24, are postponed by a year.

"The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC), backed by their Athletes' Commissions, National Sports Organizations and the Government of Canada, have made the difficult decision to not send Canadian teams to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer of 2020," the statement read.

"The COC and CPC urgently call on the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to postpone the games for one year. We offer them our full support in helping navigate all the complexities that rescheduling the Games will bring."

"We recognize the inherent complexities around a postponement, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our athletes and the world community," adds the statement.

The statement comes amid mounting criticism of the IOC's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australian Olympic Committee statement

"The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) says Australian athletes should prepare for a Tokyo Olympic Games in the northern summer of 2021, following the IOC’s announcement of a potential postponement of this year’s Games and changes in public health landscape in Australia and across the globe.

"The AOC believes our athletes now need to prioritise their own health and of those around them, and to be able to return to the families, in discussion with their National Federations."

Xinhua/Reuters