Clemens Prokop has slammed the IOC's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic ©Getty Images

The former President of the German Athletics Association, Clemens Prokop, has called International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach "unsuitable at crisis management" and criticised his decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prokop, who was head of German athletics for 16 years, said that Bach and his team are not doing enough.

"I consider Thomas Bach unsuitable at crisis management because he does not make the necessary decisions," Prokop said in an interview with Stuttgarter Zeitung.

"At any rate, the IOC is currently doing the opposite of responsible crisis management."

Bach held a "constructive" conference call with 220 athlete representatives this week and there were discussions on the impact that the coronavirus pandemic will have on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

IOC President Thomas Bach has faced heavy opposition for the IOC's stance on the future of Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images
IOC President Thomas Bach has faced heavy opposition for the IOC's stance on the future of Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images

After the meeting, Bach said: "Everybody realises that we have still more than four months to go and we will address this action and we will keep acting in a responsible way in the interest of the athletes."

However, Prokop added that he does not see the Games going ahead in the summer.

"I do not consider the current IOC practice to be understandable from the point of view of reason.

"It is not only naive, it is stupid to act as if the coronavirus crisis could have resolved worldwide in the next four months."

There have been more than 252,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the globe, with more than 10,000 people dying as a result. 

Many Olympic qualifiers have been postponed or cancelled as a result of the pandemic and hundreds of athletes find themselves unable to train properly because of various Government restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the virus.