The Japanese authorities expect that the total number of foreign participants at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, including athletes, their coaches and the press, will not exceed 90,000 due to the spread of the coronavirus in the country, Sankei Shimbun reported on March 20.
As the newspaper writes, it is assumed that about 15 thousand athletes will arrive in Japan to participate in the competition. The rest 75 thousand people are coaches, judges, foreign journalists and representatives of sponsors.
On March 9, Kyodo’s agency, citing sources, reported that Japanese authorities did not plan to invite foreign fans to the Tokyo Olympics due to the spread of the coronavirus.
The next day, it became known that Japan is also going to hold the Olympic torch relay without spectators before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Initially, it was expected that the event will be attended by almost 3 thousand people, including guests. But the Japanese authorities have significantly reduced the scale of the ceremony due to the volatile situation with the spread of COVID-19.
The Tokyo Olympics were supposed to take place from July 24 to August 9, 2020. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the competitions were postponed for a year: they will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021. At the same time, the name of the Tokyo 2020 Games has been retained.