The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Tokyo Olympics: up to 10,000 spectators at competition venues

2021-06-26T12:50:44.358Z


The organizers finally decided on Monday that the Tokyo Olympics competitions (July 23-August 8) could host 10,000 specta.


There will be people in the stadiums and along the roads.

The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics, which open on July 23 against a backdrop of controversy in Japan, decided on Monday to allow local spectators with a 50% gauge on competition venues, and within a maximum limit of 10,000 people, according to a statement.

But the competitions could take place behind closed doors if Covid-19 infections multiply again, organizers said. A draw is being considered to determine who, among ticket holders in Japan, will be able to attend the Olympics, according to the Kyodo news agency.

In March, the organizers took the decision - unprecedented in Olympic history - to ban the arrival of spectators from abroad because of a health risk considered too high.

Until then, they had not ceased to postpone a decision on the local spectators, in particular to take into account the situation in the archipelago as late as possible.

Five parties were represented at the meeting on Monday morning: the Tokyo-2020 Organizing Committee, the Japanese government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

A third of Japanese in favor of the Olympics

The lifting of the state of emergency this Sunday in Tokyo and other departments sent a rather favorable signal, but the Japanese government maintained some restrictions at least until July 11 and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga warned that these could be strengthened at once if the cases of Covid-19 started to rise again and if the medical system was again under pressure.

The organizers have been seeking for months to overcome the resistance of the Japanese public which has shown itself hostile to the holding of the Games this summer.

A poll published on Monday in the newspaper Asahi, however, revealed that 34% of Japanese people were now in favor of the Olympics, against 14% the previous month.

According to a survey published this Sunday by the Kyodo agency, 86% of those questioned remain worried about a rebound of Covid-19 during the Games and 40% believe that they should be organized without spectators.

Read alsoJO Tokyo: Covid-19, absence of foreign spectators ... why these Games will be so unique

Japan, which began to close its borders in March 2020, has been relatively spared from the pandemic, compared to many other countries, with 14,400 officially recorded deaths.

But, for administrative reasons in particular, the vaccination program was slow to start.

To date, less than 7% of Japanese are fully vaccinated.

The organizers of the Olympics gave pledges to the population by dividing by three the number of foreign delegates invited to the Games and by imposing draconian measures on the participants, with threats of expulsion in the event of non-compliance with health rules.

"All the rules still apply to everyone," said IOC President Thomas Bach on Monday, brandishing the threat of "sanctions".

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2021-06-26

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.