(Photo: AFP/VNA)

The decision was announced after an online meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and the Government of Japan.

The organizing committee will refund the purchasers of roughly 600,000 Olympic tickets and 30,000 Paralympic tickets already sold outside Japan. Experts said this will cause economic losses of nearly 150 billion yen (1.4 billion USD) for Japan.

The Olympic Opening Ceremony is scheduled for July 23 and the Paralympics is set to start on August 24.