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LAUSANNE, March 12-- The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is focused on ensuring athlete have fair access to qualification events for Tokyo 2020 and is supporting relevant Internation Federations to create fair alternatives to lost qualification opportunities, the IOC said in an statement on Thursday. The statement from the IOC to Olympians published on Athlete365, a digital platform for global Olympians and elite athletes, provided updates on the coronavirus and the impact on Olympic qualification events after the World Health Organization (WHO) Wednesday declared that COVID-19 has become a pandemic due to the speed and scale of transmission. "We understand the significant challenges you face, particularly in terms of travel regulations and the varying restrictions on the organization of events which continue to change daily," the IOC said in the statement. "As a result, we are focused on assisting IFs and NOCs to address any challenges they may have with Olympic qualification events. Our goal is to help find consistent and credible solutions to replace any missed opportunities for qualification you may have had." "In doing so we want to ensure you have fair access to qualification events and for qualification to take place on the field of play, including supporting IFs to create fair alternatives to lost qualification opportunities. We are therefore working closely with IFs to approve any necessary changes to the dates and locations of events and any necessary adaptations to the qualification systems." | 
