THE organisers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have confirmed that spectators will not be allowed into venues for the Games.
There were reports on Wednesday that the Japanese government was likely going to bar all fans from event venues, and the reports were confirmed on Thursday as Covid-19 cases surged in Japan.
“Today, following the decision by the Government of Japan (GoJ) to announce a state of emergency in Tokyo, the five parties, namely the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) and the GoJ came together for a meeting,” the bodies stated in a joint statement on the Games official website on Thursday.
“During this meeting, the IOC and the IPC were informed by the Japanese side about the impact of this announcement on the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 and supported the policies that were presented by the Japanese parties.
“In response to the state of emergency, stricter measures with regard to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 have also been decided by the three Japanese parties. No spectators will be allowed into any venues in Tokyo during the Olympic Games.
Under this policy, in areas where emergency measures are not in force, local government authorities will meet and decide specific measures in consultation with the local governors based on the situation in each area.”
The statement however noted that there could be an easing of the restrictions if the rate of infection dropped drastically.
“In the event of a significant change in the state of infection, a Five-Party Meeting will be convened immediately to review the spectator capacity,” the statement adds.
A batch of Team Nigeria athletes are already in Japan for the Games after travelling from Abuja on Tuesday.
The Olympics will be held from 23 July to 8 August, while the Paralympics will start on 24 August and end on 5 September
There is still hope that spectators could be admitted to the event venues for the Paralympic Games.
“The policy for the Paralympic Games will be decided by 16 July, one week before the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games,” the statement clarified.
“However, it will now be necessary to make a decision based on the infection situation prevailing at the time. For this reason, the decision regarding the admission of Paralympic event spectators will now be taken when the Olympic Games end.
“The IOC and IPC, respecting this decision, support it in the interest of safe and secure Games for everybody.”
The Japanese government had initially banned foreign fans from attending the Olympics while hoping to allow local spectators attend before this latest change of position.
