London, Apr 10 (IANS): World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said that he is still hoping for a belated start to the athletics season from August. In a statement put out by World Athletics on Friday, Coe said that if possible, the global athletics governing body would like to hold the season between August and October.

"We know that different countries are at different stages of managing this pandemic so we are trying to give a structure to our athletes and member federations so they can begin to plan for the year ahead," Coe said in the statement.

"If it is at all possible, we will schedule a belated outdoor season from August to October to help our athletes to figure out where they stand after the disruption of this year."

Coe said that he is looking to provide some sense of hope of return to normalcy to stakeholders amidst the coronavirus pandemic which has forced the cancellation or postponement of virtually all sports events including the Tokyo Olympics.

World Athletics has frozen the weekend of April 9 and 10 for national competitions. "This will be followed by what we hope will be a solid international season, but of course we are dependent on the global response to the pandemic," Coe said.

"Nevertheless, we think it's better to offer our stakeholders some hope of a return to normalcy later this year."