The Stay Period Of Olympic Athletes In Japan Will Be Shorter

JAKARTA - Athletes who will compete in the Tokyo Olympics, Japan next year will have a shorter stay in the host country than usual due to strict health protocols in anticipating the spread of COVID-19.

International Olympic Committee (OIC) President Thomas Bach urged participating countries' national Olympic committees to adjust travel plans for athletes and support staff so that they do not arrive early or stay late to minimize the risk of transmission.

"The National Olympic Committees must adjust their arrival and return policies to ensure athletes arrive five days before the start of the competition and return home a maximum of two days after the competition is over," Bach said at a virtual press conference.

"This applies to every sports official, not only for athletes. Exceptions will be considered depending on the criteria of the particular sport," he said.

That means athletes competing in the second week of the Olympics will miss the team parade at the Olympic opening ceremony. Meanwhile, those who arrive early will miss the closing ceremony.

The ICO said stricter controls would be put in place to regulate who could stay at the athletes' homestead to protect competitors.

The COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year forced the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by one year.

With more than 10,000 athletes from around the world competing, it is feared that their arrival will cause a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Meanwhile, in an announcement on Friday, organizers said that postponing the Olympics would cause an increase in the budget by 294 billion yen, about 39.6 trillion rupiah which will be borne by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic committee, the Japanese government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.