A spokesperson for the IOC told insidethegames the ruling body will convene "to prepare the information exchange with athletes' representatives, National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and International Federations (IFs) in a series of calls on Tuesday and Wednesday (March 18)".

The calls will take place in response to growing concerns over the COVID-19 virus, which has caused significant disruption to Olympic qualification and wreaked havoc on the international sporting calendar.

Presidents of all Summer Olympic IFs have been invited to participate in their dedicated call tomorrow, which will allow Federation representatives to ask questions regarding the coronavirus outbreak.

The pandemic has fuelled suggestions this year's Olympic and Paralympic Games could be postponed or cancelled, claims repeatedly denied by the IOC and Tokyo 2020, who have refused to alter their stance that the event will go ahead as planned.

But the impact on qualification for Federations remains the most pressing issue in the coming months as organisers scramble to rearrange events to ensure a fair system for athletes.

A host of Federations have already asked the IOC for an extension to the qualification period for Tokyo 2020, due to open on July 24, while others are considering using their current rankings to determine its Olympic qualifiers.

While qualification in some sports has already been completed, numerous International Federations have had to cancel or postpone Tokyo 2020 qualifiers.

The virus, which has so far killed over 6,600 people and infected more than 170,000 worldwide, has prompted Governments to ban events involving certain numbers of people and impose travel restrictions as part of measures designed to combat its spread.

IOC President Thomas Bach, who will lead tomorrow's telephone call for Federations, admitted last week that there were "serious problems" with qualification because of the virus.