Its Olympic Solidarity program has enjoyed a budget of $500 million dollars in the four-year period leading up to the Tokyo Games. Its primary focus is athlete development and the training of coaches.

It's been much about providing opportunity and levelling the playing field.

Thousands of coaching courses around the world in myriad sports have moved from teaching the basic skills to the critical aspects for elite performance - training programs and periodisation.

Not one of those courses would have dealt with any sort of disruptor like the one the world is experiencing right now.

As the educators did their best to bring coaches from developing countries to the most advanced nations up to date on the both long-established principle as well as the latest trends - the ultimate aim would always have been to prepare the athlete for the major competition of their current season.

While it would vary enormously from one Olympic sport to another, many coaches and athletes now face not only the uncertainty of how to structure their training programs but much more so access to facilities to be able to activate them.

It is probable that some participants in some sports can be ready with a month's notice - particularly in those disciplines in which physical preparation and lead-up competitions are less critical.

For other sports it just won't be possible - at least not possible in a fair and meaningful way for those taking part.

The IOC should be making the call now to postpone the Tokyo Olympics.

Because of the staged manner in which COVID-19 is impacting the globe, it's just unreasonable to think that even in that four-month span that the IOC relies on as its decision-making buffer, things will be fine and dandy across the world come late-July.

At the end of each games, the IOC president calls upon the youth of the world to assemble in four years' time to celebrate the next edition. Inherent in that wish is the basic tenet that those who are eligible, qualified and selected should be able to attend and participate to the best of their ability.

Much is mentioned in the media and online about the loss of qualifying opportunities in many sports caused by the current cancellation of so many competitions.

This is true, but this is one aspect which can fairly easily be remedied by the international sporting federations working with the IOC to adapt the system to something that makes sense in the circumstances. Many already have done or are doing so right now.

The much bigger issue is the capacity of athletes and coaches to properly prepare to answer that call to be at those next games.

No solution will suit everyone - but the one right now that is fairest to all - as well as bearing a semblance of reality - is to postpone the Tokyo Games to 2021 or 2022.

One thing is for sure. The Japanese organisers will find a way to have the training and competition facilities and the athlete's village available at a rescheduled date.

The vast majority of the international federations which stage sports at the games are dependent on each Olympics going ahead - although not critically with a four-year spacing in between them.

Those federations need the Olympic dividend to survive financially and the exposure to recruit new participants and fans.

The IFs therefore have all sorts of reasons to adapt what they might currently have in their four year competition plans to fit in a re-scheduled games.

While some sports have world championships annually or in every non-Olympic year, key players like swimming and athletics are in odd-numbered years only.

This makes 2022 a better option for those - if not most sports. Normally this would create a clash between the two biggest sporting festivals in the world - but FIFA's call to stage its World Cup in Qatar in two years' time may end up being a brilliant call for uniquely it will be held in November and December. There is word from insiders that the relevant internet domain names for Tokyo 2021 and Tokyo 2022 have been reserved in recent days - and not by opportunists.

So if the IOC's dalliance has been based on needing time to shore up its options and preserve its marketing properties that makes sense. What won't make sense is a failure to make a postponement call - and very much sooner rather than later.