There Is A Plan To Ban Overseas Attendance At The Tokyo Olympics

Olympic illustration (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Spectators from outside Japan may be prohibited from watching the Tokyo Olympics in person. Thus the Japanese mass media reported as quoted by Antara, Thursday, March 4.

This news comes after the organizing committee stated that public safety will be the top priority in the Olympics, which were pushed back to this year due to the pandemic.

The Japanese government, the Tokyo metropolitan government and the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee are likely to want the Olympics to be watched only by Japanese domestic audiences, wrote the Yomiuri Shimbun and other Japanese mass media.

The government is concerned that the influx of viewers from abroad could endanger Japanese society.

"Amid the continued widespread spread of the corona virus in every country, they have decided that allowing visitors from abroad on a large scale will only worry the people." reported Yomiuri.

The three parties have met with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and have agreed to make a decision on spectators later this month, which is usually before the Olympic torch relay across the country starting March 25.

But statements made by organizers before and after the talks indicated that spectators from abroad would be barred from entering, which Tokyo Olympics President Seiko Hashimoto said was for the safety of the public a top priority.

IOC chairman Thomas Bach said the organizing committee would only focus on important matters for the Olympics, while Japanese Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa said a careful decision had to be a stepping stone.

The media report also stated that the organizing committee from Japan would soon convey its official views and convey this to the IOC and IPC chairs.

Last week Bach had said that decisions regarding spectators from abroad would be made in late April or early May, but Hashimoto said yesterday that viewers, hotels and travel agencies need to know as soon as possible.

About 900 thousand Tokyo Olympics tickets have been sold outside of Japan.