The postponed Summer Olympics in Tokyo have been confirmed to begin on July 23, 2021, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Monday.

"The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the government of Japan today agreed new dates for the games of the XXXII Olympiad, in 2021. The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be celebrated from 23 July to 8 August 2021. They also agreed on new dates for the Paralympic Games, which will be celebrated from 24 August until 5 September 2021," said the IOC in an official statement.

Earlier on the day, three Japanese media outlets, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), TBS and The Nikkei broke the news.

The new schedule was reached by IOC President Thomas Bach, Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, Olympic and Paralympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto and other leaders of the key parties via telephone conference.

"With this announcement, I am confident that, working together with the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Japanese government and all our stakeholders, we can master this unprecedented challenge. Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel. These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel," said Bach in the statement.

"It is fantastic news that we could find new dates so quickly for the Tokyo 2020 Games. The new dates provide certainty for the athletes, reassurance for the stakeholders and something to look forward to for the whole world," said IPC President Andrew Parsons.

"Notwithstanding the postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games for the first time in history, and various other issues that have already been highlighted, the event schedule is the cornerstone of future preparations, and I am convinced that taking this decision promptly will help speed up future preparations," said Mori.

"Since we now have concrete new dates to aim for, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will commit all its resources, and work closely with the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, the national government and other stakeholders to fully prepare for the delivery of Games that are safe and secure," said Koike.

The Olympic event had been originally scheduled to take place on July 24 this year, but the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the plan and forced both Tokyo and the IOC to reconsider.

Both at first insisted on holding the Olympics on the initial date but the continuously deteriorating situation put a growing number of Olympic committees in opposition to the IOC and Tokyo.

On March 23, the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic committees, Australian Olympic Committee announced that they will not send their athletes to Tokyo unless the Olympics is rescheduled. Soon, more Olympic committees joined them.

The IOC and Tokyo compromised by delaying the event to 2021, no later than summer of the year.

The year of 2021 will make a true sports festival as so far as the Summer Olympics, the UEFA European Championship, Copa América and the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup are now all scheduled to take place during that time.