Overseas spectators may not be included in Tokyo Olympics 2021

A crucial decision regarding allowing spectators to watch the Olympics inside stadiums is set to be made in the coming days by several organizing parties of the Olympics. A five-party meeting was recently convened that included the Japanese Government, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, and Tokyo 2020 who deliberated over pressing matters that were arising before the commencement of the Games.

There is a priority as mentioned by IOC Chairman, Thomas Bach that reflected on ensuring the smooth running of the Olympics with competitions and athletes being given priority in terms of safety and security. He also stressed the need to be in sync with all organizing parties to ensure the smooth running of the event. The Tokyo 2020 President, Seiko Hashimoto is said to be in favour of allowing fans back into stadiums. It will be decided later this month whether to allow spectators from overseas, while limits on domestic fans will be determined in April. The sale of tickets had already begun before the pandemic and there were a total of 4.48 million tickets that were sold with total estimated revenue expected to be 90 billion yuan in total.

In terms of Covid cases in Tokyo, the capital has seen a drop in the number of infections in the past week. The country witnessed several surges and drops in cases throughout the past few months but it seems likely that safety measures will be lifted once again in the coming weeks. Avoiding another surge in cases through Tokyo post the commencement of the Olympics will be a priority for the organizers.

There has already been much uncertainty regarding sporting events that are to be held within this year with various sports seeing events being canceled or postponed. Sports lovers shall find out the final decision about whether they will be allowed to have access to stadiums or not before the torch relay on the 25th of March. This is as per statements made by the president of Tokyo 2020, Seiko Hashimoto.