Tokyo 2020 Olympic Committee Limits The Number Of Spectators To 10 Thousand People

JAKARTA - The organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics decided to limit the number of spectators for each match venue to 10 thousand people, Monday, June 21 local time.

The decision comes days after experts warned that holding the Olympics behind closed doors was the least risky option during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision was taken at an online meeting of representatives from the five organizing bodies, including the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.

Seiko Hashimoto, president of the organizing committee, told a news conference that a new draw to determine who would be allowed to watch live would be held. Meanwhile, the organizers have sold around 4.48 million tickets for the Tokyo Olympics and will no longer be selling, with the schedule unchanged, starting July 23.

Toshiro Muto, the committee's CEO, said the number of tickets would likely be reduced to around 2.72 million and revenue from them would be less than half of the initial projected 90 billion yen ($820 million).

Meanwhile, IOC President Thomas Bach said he was absolutely sure that the policy of limiting attendance would protect the Japanese people and all participants in the best possible way.

"The IOC will fully support your decision, and will fully contribute to making this game safe, secure for the Japanese people and all participants," Bach said, adding that more than 80 percent of the village's athletes would be vaccinated.

Organizers said they would implement the Japanese government's policy of limiting audiences to 50 percent capacity or up to 10,000 spectators, whichever is less. This is subject to change, if after 12 July there is an emergency or other infection prevention.

Especially for the opening ceremony which will be held at the Tokyo National Stadium which can accommodate up to 68,000 spectators. Spectator restrictions will also apply to ticket holders from the general public and officials related to the match.

Organizers are considering allowing about 20,000 spectators in total, while seeking to reduce the number of match officials to several thousand, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, citing Reuters, Japan's Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa urged the IOC to keep disclosing the COVID-19 vaccination rates of all overseas Olympic visitors, including those living outside the Olympic village.

"For the sake of putting the public's mind at ease, we would like to continue to ask the IOC to proactively announce the vaccination rates of upcoming Olympic officials from overseas," said Marukawa.

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he would not rule out holding the Summer Olympics without spectators, if the capital was in a state of emergency for COVID-19.

"If a state of emergency is declared, then we cannot rule out the absence of spectators," Prime Minister Suga told reporters during a tour of vaccination sites in Tokyo.

To note, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be held at around 40 venues located in Tokyo and other prefectures. A number of match venues that have a large audience capacity include Yokohama International Stadium (72,000 spectators) and Tokyo Stadium (48,000).