London, Mar 21 (IANS): Nic Coward, the new chairman of UK Athletics, has urged the Tokyo Olympics to be postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Coward told BBC Sport: "To leave it where it is, is creating so much pressure in the system. It now has to be addressed."

Organisers have been hell-bent on staging the Olympics as scheduled from July 24 to August 9 despite mounting athlete criticism as key qualifying events are getting cancelled.

On Friday, a member of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) called for the Tokyo Olympic Games to be postponed.

Retired judo athlete Kaori Yamaguchi, who is also a member of JOC executive board, told Japan's Nikkei newspaper that athletes are not able to prepare adequately for the Olympic Games scheduled to start from July 24.

World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe has said that it is possible to postpone the 2020 Olympics if necessary.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach has told the New York Times "different scenarios" for Tokyo 2020 are now being considered for the first time.