The Tokyo Olympics has been postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic," Sky News reports.

The International Olympics Committee (IOC) made the decision on Tuesday, March 24 after Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe asked members on Monday to postpone the games due to measures taken to combat COVID-19.

Their decision ended weeks of speculation over whether the games would go ahead in July.

The IOC said the games will be held "not later than summer 2021" but will still be called the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the World Health Organisation today, the IOC president and the prime minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community," the IOC said in a statement.

As of Tuesday, March 24, there have been more than 395,000 confirmed cases of people with the virus across the world. More than 17,200 people have died while more than 103,000 have recovered.