The number of people attending the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics postponed to next summer will be very small.
After announcing the absence of any foreign public, the president of Tokyo-2020, Seiko Hashimoto, dismissed the possibility for the athletes to be accompanied to Japan by their families.
“This is an opportunity that they might only have once in a lifetime, so emotionally I wish families could see that.
But we have to think about the Japanese medical system, so it's with a heavy heart that I have to say it's difficult, ”she said.
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Covid-19: the events of the day live
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has already forced the postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games for one year, more than 3 in 4 Japanese are against welcoming foreign visitors for the Games, particularly fearing that their influx will undermine pressure their health system, according to a survey.
On March 21, the Tokyo region must lift the state of health emergency, and host in the wake, on the 25th, a friendly football match against South Korea, for which the maximum number of spectators has not yet been announced. .
900,000 tickets sold outside Japan
Games organizers are expected to announce next week whether or not hosting foreign spectators will be possible after, according to Japanese media, the government has already decided not to allow them to come.
Public concerns about the spread of more contagious variants of the coronavirus have tipped the scales, reports the Kyodo agency.
Foreign visitors linked to sponsors could benefit, at the request of the International Olympic Committee, from an exemption, according to the daily Asahi Shimbun.
Nearly 900,000 tickets have already been sold outside Japan, according to the Japanese press.