As rugby league and soccer hierarchy hold crisis meetings to decide their immediate futures, rugby union has become the latest Australian sport to postpone a competition.

A day after the AFL suspended playing until at least May 31 because of the coronavirus pandemic, Rugby Australia (RA) has postponed a planned domestic competition.

RA had slated a remodelled domestic competition featuring the four Australian Super Rugby teams plus the Western Force.

But after initially hoping to start on April 3, RA now says it won’t begin until May 1 at the earliest.

“The decision to postpone … is in line with the suspension of all community rugby in Australia and will give us the opportunity to review our position across the whole rugby landscape in a month’s time,” RA chief executive Raelene Castle said on Monday.

The announcements come as the Australian Rugby League (ARL) commission hold an emergency meeting to determine the fate of the NRL season.

The NRL finished round two on Sunday and the league’s chief executive Todd Greenberg said the competition would press ahead with its season until told otherwise by the government.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) were also meeting with the remainder of the A-League in jeopardy – Perth Glory has announced the scrapping of their fixture against Western United on Monday night.

The moves followed fresh measures from federal and state governments in a bid to curtail the coronavirus outbreak.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday indoor sporting venues and gyms would be closed, an edict which impacts on the preparations of Australia’s athletes for the Tokyo Olympics.

The Tokyo Games, scheduled to start on July 24, appear likely to be postponed with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shifting its language on the sporting showpiece.

The IOC had previously remained steadfast in forging ahead with the Games but after a Sunday meeting canvassed a possible postponement.

The IOC has accelerating its scenario planning, with a decision to be made within the next four weeks, but added cancellation wasn’t on the agenda – a stance backed by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday.

Abe said a postponement was an option if holding the event in its “complete form” became impossible.

“If that becomes difficult, we may have no option but to consider postponing the Games,” he told Japan’s parliament.