The organizers of the Tokyo Olympic Games will postpone until June the final decision on the admission of Japanese spectators to sports venues. This was announced on Wednesday, April 21, by the Kyodo agency.
According to the agency, the decision was expected to be made in late April or early May. However, due to the unpredictability of the COIVID-19 situation, plans have changed, as they may require adjustment at the very last moment.
Currently, the upper limit for spectator admission is 50% of the capacity of objects, but changes are possible depending on the real epidemiological situation at the time of the start of the Games.
On April 17, it became known that the Japanese authorities would not refuse to host the Olympic Games in Tokyo, despite the worsening epidemiological situation. A day earlier, the head of the organizing committee, Seiko Hashimoto, announced the organizers’ intention not to cancel the international competition. According to her, the Olympics are planned to be held taking into account all security measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On April 16, Japanese Minister Taro Kono, responsible for vaccination, admitted that the Olympic Games could be held without spectators at sports facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On March 20, the organizing committee of the Tokyo Olympic Games decided to hold the tournament without foreign fans due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is noted that all tickets to fans from abroad will be returned.
The Tokyo Olympics were supposed to take place from July 24 to August 9, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition was postponed for a year. Now the Games will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021. At the same time, the name – “Tokyo-2020” – has been retained.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in Japan, according to Worldometer, more than 537 thousand cases of coronavirus have been detected, about 9.7 thousand patients have died.