Tokyo 2020 organisers say a decision on whether overseas spectators can attend this summer’s Olympics and Paralympics will be made at the end of the month.
Japanese newspaper “The Mainichi” had reported that overseas spectators wouldn’t be allowed to attend the Games due to Covid-19 concerns.
IOC president Thomas Bach reiterated their “full commitment” to making sure the event is safe for athletes and the Japanese people.
He’s also confirmed countries are making “good progress” in vaccinating competitors, but that having a Covid-19 jab won’t be mandatory.
“We have started this initial briefing particularly with all the OC’s all over the world to have as many participants as possible arriving vaccinated to Tokyo,” said Bach.
The organising committee president Seiko Hashimoto told the media she hoped to have reached a decision by March 25th, by the time of the Olympic torch relay, and that a decision on venue capacity limits would be taken at the end of April, using current domestic capacity limits as a base.
The Olympics are due to get underway on July 23rd, a year after their original date.
Hashimoto said in an interview “It’s not about whether it’s difficult or not (to have overseas spectators), it’s whether it would link to the safety and security of the Games for Japanese citizens. That is the priority”.
“They all want to watch the Games and safety and security needs to be maintained or it would be a burden on the mental aspect as well.”
The greater Tokyo metropolitan area remains in a state of emergency while the country itself remains closed to non-resident foreigners.
Decision on overseas spectators by end of March, says Olympics minister https://t.co/GJcajWf0WC
— The Japan Times (@japantimes) March 3, 2021
