GENEVA: FIFA has extended the age limit for the men’s football tournament at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The amended Olympic rule on Friday retains the players born on or after Jan 1, 1997 standard for the Tokyo Games following a one-year postponement agreed last week by the International Olympic Committee and Japanese authorities.

It means players eligible for the intended U-23 tournament in 2020 can still play in Japan at age 24 next year. Men’s football kicks off ahead of the July 23, 2021 opening ceremony in Tokyo.

FIFA also postponed two women’s age-group World Cups due this year in Central America and India, and confirmed no international games for men and women will be played in the early June dates protected for national team call-ups.

Football’s world body said health must always be the first priority and the main criteria in any decision-making process, especially in these challenging times.

The Olympic decision was made by a FIFA panel of football officials worldwide, created to address the football shutdown during the health crisis.

The 16 men’s teams at the Tokyo Olympics next year can also select three over-age players in their rosters. A stellar lineup includes Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Spain.

Two women’s World Cup tournaments the U-20s hosted by Panama and Costa Rica in August and September, and the U-17s in India in November are postponed. No new dates were announced.

Until the Covid-19 outbreak, national team games scheduled in June included the 2020 European Championship, World Cup qualifying games in South America and Asia, and qualifiers for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

After Euro 2020 was postponed for one year, UEFA hoped to schedule playoff games in June to confirm the last four places in a 24-nation line-up. Those playoffs were postponed indefinitely this week.

World Cup qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar now face uncertain scheduling in a congested calendar in Europe, South America and Asia.

FIFA said on Friday it would organise bilateral discussions with continental governing bodies to finalise a revised match schedule pending health and safety developments.

Meanwhile, all international matches scheduled for June were postponed following the first meeting of FIFA’s coronavirus working group.

It was also decided to hold discussions with confederations to draw up a revised schedule for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers which have been shelved.

“The FIFA-Confederations working group... has unanimously approved a series of recommendations following its first meeting, which was organised via conference call today,” said a FIFA statement.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2020