South Africa men's under-23 side have been been handed some relief amid the ongoing anxiety around the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Sanity prevailed on Tuesday afternoon, when the International Olympic Committee and Japan's organising committee announced the postponement of the Summer Games scheduled for July-August this year.
This comes following a meeting via teleconference between the two parties, who resolved that the 2020 international event can no longer take place under the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has taken countries across the world by storm.
Just this morning, South Africa had confirmed 554 infections hours after the country was placed on lockdown by President Cyril Ramaphosa, meaning all athletes' preparations have officially been put on hold.
With the under-23 team having qualified, it left coach David Notoane to map their plans inspite of their players facing the high risk of contracting the infectous virus, either locally, in transit or in Tokyo.
However, all players and support staff will be relieved at the decision taken by the two committees, which is seen to be in the best interests of all involved, given the unknown extent of the novel coronavirus' spread and infection rate.
A new date for the event has yet to be confirmed, but will be staged in the same city at some point before September 2021 and will retain the name 'Tokyo 2020'.