Tokyo Olympics to Ban Overseas Spectators... Official Confirmation on the 20th

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, postponed by one year due to COVID-19, are moving toward a decision not to allow overseas spectators.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 18th, the Japanese government has decided not to accept general overseas spectators during the Olympics and Paralympics scheduled for July to September this year.

The Japanese government plans to officially confirm this at a five-party meeting related to the Olympics, involving the organizing committee, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, International Olympic Committee (IOC), and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) representatives, possibly as early as the 20th.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who discussed the issue of accepting overseas spectators with Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa at the Prime Minister's residence the previous day, instructed that the Japanese government's position?that accepting overseas spectators is difficult?be conveyed at this five-party meeting.

The five-party meeting is being considered to be held online before the torch relay begins on the 25th, with the 20th being the likely date.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported, "Since there is no sign of COVID-19 containment in various countries and the spread of variant viruses has become serious, the direction has been set to give up on overseas spectators."

A senior Japanese government official said, "We judged that it is practically impossible to thoroughly implement infection control measures while managing a large number of entrants."

Earlier, IOC President Thomas Bach also mentioned at a press conference on the 12th that he would "respect and accept Japan's decision" regarding the acceptance of overseas spectators.

Accordingly, it is expected that the Japanese government's plan to hold the Olympics without overseas spectators will be approved as is at this five-party meeting.

The organizing committee plans to proceed with the refund process for approximately 900,000 tickets sold overseas as soon as this plan is finalized.

The Japanese government and the organizing committee will decide on the specific scale of domestic spectators' stadium capacity next month.

Within the Japanese government, it is known that a plan to limit the number of attendees to 50% of the venue capacity, in line with domestic sports event standards, is currently being considered.

Meanwhile, the organizing committee has also decided to hold the torch relay departure ceremony at "J-Village," a soccer facility in Fukushima Prefecture, on the 25th as a no-spectator event.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.