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Tokyo, Japan | Xinhua | Overseas spectators will be banned from entering Japan to watch the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer due to COVID-19, the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee announced on Saturday.
Tokyo 2020 president Seiko Hashimoto told a news conference that the decision has been made by the Japanese parties and been informed to the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee at a virtual meeting earlier.
The five-party meeting was attended by IOC President Thomas Bach, IPC chief Andrew Parsons, Japan’s Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa, Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike, and Hashimoto.
A joint statement was released after the meeting, saying that the Japanese side has concluded that “overseas spectators will not be allowed to the Olympic and Paralympic Games because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“The COVID-19 situation in Japan and many countries is still very challenging,” it said. “Based on the situation, the parties on the Japanese side have come to a conclusion that no free entry from overseas may be guaranteed this summer.”
Hashimoto said that a total of 600,000 tickets have sold out of Japan for the Olympic Games and 60,000 for the Paralympic Games. All the tickets will be reimbursed, she said.
A decision on how many local fans will be allowed into the venue will be made by the end of April.
Bach said that it was a difficult decision on the overseas fans, adding that “we have to take decisions which may need sacrifice from everybody and we have to ask for understanding.”
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📌 FULL IOC STATEMENT
THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) AND THE INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE (IPC) WERE TODAY INFORMED BY THE JAPANESE PARTIES IN THE FIVE-PARTIES MEETING ABOUT THEIR CONCLUSION REGARDING OVERSEAS SPECTATORS AT THE OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES TOKYO 2020 THIS SUMMER. FOR THE REASON OF THE SAFETY OF EVERY GAMES PARTICIPANT AND THE JAPANESE PEOPLE, THEIR CONCLUSION IS FULLY RESPECTED AND ACCEPTED BY THE IOC AND THE IPC.
During the meeting, the IOC and the IPC were informed that, as outlined in the full statement by Tokyo 2020, the conclusion of the Japanese parties is not to allow entry into Japan for overseas spectators for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 due to the prevailing worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Olympic and Paralympic Games tickets purchased by overseas residents from the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee will be refunded.
“We share the disappointment of all enthusiastic Olympic fans from around the world, and of course the families and friends of the athletes, who were planning to come to the Games,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “For this I am truly sorry. We know that this is a great sacrifice for everybody. We have said from the very beginning of this pandemic that it will require sacrifices.
“But we have also said that the first principle is safety. Every decision has to respect the principle of safety first. I know that our Japanese partners and friends did not reach this conclusion lightly. Together with them, the IOC’s top priority was, is and remains to organise safe Olympic and Paralympic Games for everyone: all the participants and, of course, our gracious hosts, the Japanese people. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder at the side of our Japanese partners and friends, without any kind of reservation, to make the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 a great success.
“Together with our Rights-Holding Broadcasters, we will make every effort so that the fans from around the world will be able to experience the Olympic spirit. In this way, the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be the light at the end of the tunnel and a safe manifestation of peace, solidarity and the resilience of humankind in overcoming the pandemic.”
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Xinhua
