Fifa has extended the age limit for the men's football tournament at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic, much to the relief of four All Whites.

The amended Olympic rule on Friday retains the "players born on or after Jan. 1, 1997" standard for the Tokyo Games following a one-year postponement agreed last week by the International Olympic Committee and Japanese authorities.

It means players eligible for the intended under-23 tournament in 2020 can still play in Japan at age 24 next year. Four All Whites – Myer Bevan, Noah Billingsley, Moses Dyer, and Clayton Lewis – were at risk of missing out on the chance to compete for a spot.

Fifa also postponed two women's age-group World Cups due this year in Central America and India, and confirmed no international games for men and women will be played in the early June dates protected for national team callups.

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Football's world body said "health must always be the first priority and the main criteria in any decision-making process, especially in these challenging times."

SHANE WENZLICK/PHOTOTEK All White Myer Bevan will still be eligible for the Tokyo Olympics.

The Olympic decision was made by a Fifa panel of football officials worldwide, created to address the football shutdown during the health crisis.

The 16 men's teams at the Tokyo Olympics next year can also select three overage players in their rosters. A stellar lineup includes Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Spain as well as New Zealand.

Two women's World Cup tournaments - the Under-20s hosted by Panama and Costa Rica in August and September, and the Under-17s in India in November - are postponed. No new dates were announced.

Until the Covid-19 outbreak, national team games scheduled in June included the 2020 OFC Nations Cup, which New Zealand Football was going to host and use as preparation for the Olympics, the 2020 European Championship, World Cup qualifying games in South America and Asia, and qualifiers for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

After Euro 2020 was postponed for one year, Uefa hoped to schedule playoff games in June to confirm the last four places in a 24-nation lineup. Those playoffs were postponed indefinitely this week.

World Cup qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar now face uncertain scheduling in a congested calendar in Europe, South America and Asia.

Fifa said on Friday it would "organise bilateral discussions" with continental governing bodies "to finalise a revised match schedule pending health and safety developments."

Fifa plans to direct hundreds of millions of dollars from its cash reserves to support a global emergency fund, and has agreed to appoint one official from each of the six football continents to coordinate the work.