CHENNAI: World Athletics' head Sebastian Coe said they will make their decisions keeping in mind the 'best interest of our sport and our athletes'.
In an interview with a leading channel, Coe said: "We have to be guided by what governments, the WHO and local authorities are telling us but we also have to make our own decisions and make sensible compromises. There may be a moment when a sport decides that it is ready to stage events even if it is not always with the approval of those authorities. We will be respectful, but we have to make decisions in the best interest of our sport and our athletes."
Earlier in the week, a provincial Diamond League calendar for the year was announced, with Norway kicking things off on June 11.
Coe said it was up to the meet directors to decide 'how to get athletes to competition in a safe and secure manner that doesn't risk affection'. "Each event will have to decide on a format for competition with these safety considerations, two months in advance. Everybody is waiting to return to competition and organisers will have to be as creative and ingenious as possible in the current circumstances," he added.
The world governing body for the sport was one of the bodies that put pressure on the IOC to postpone the Olympics and Coe acknowledged the fact that it was a difficult decision to make. He hopes that the pandemic could be contained so that the Games won't have to be cancelled.
"Speculating about something that is over a year away is unhelpful. We are trying to give the athletes some clarity about the calendar and speculation from scientists and medical experts does not help. I hope that the pandemic will be contained so that we don't have to cancel the Games," he concluded.