Olympics 'continuing as planned' but virus halts Japanese football

Tokyo Olympics organisers said preparations were "continuing as planned" on Tuesday as Japan's football league became the latest sporting victim of the coronavirus, just five months before the Games.

The J-League added to jitters around the Olympics as it called off domestic football until mid-March, starting with seven cup games scheduled for Wednesday, as fears of a pandemic grow.

But Games organisers said cancelling the July 24-August 9 Olympics, which will draw millions of fans and tourists, as well as thousands of athletes and officials, had never been discussed.

"We have never discussed cancelling the Games," said a Tokyo 2020 statement sent to AFP.

"Preparations for the Games are continuing as planned."

The J-League postponement comes a day after South Korea's K-league was suspended as COVID-19 spreads rapidly beyond China, where nearly 2,700 people have died. The Chinese Super League is also on hold.

The virus has cut a swathe through Asia's sporting calendar and although the .