peter
The Japanese government has decided to bar entry of overseas spectators to the Tokyo Olympics, according to a report by Kyodo News, quoting anonymous ‘officials with knowledge of the matter’.
The government and the Tokyo organisers have said publicly they will make a decision on the matter by the end of this month. There were reports in Japanese media last week that the stakeholders were leaning towards a decision to block overseas spectators.
The Kyodo News report said the government had made its decision because of Japanese public concerns about the ongoing pandemic and the more contagious variants of Covid-19 that have been circulating in various countries. Public opinion polls in Japan have suggested concern at the prospect of hosting the Olympics amid the pandemic. Japan has barred entry to most foreign visitors since January 14 in an effort to tackle its third, and largest, wave of Covid-19 infections.
Bloomberg reported last week that, prior to last year’s postponement, it was expected 600 000 overseas visitors would attend the Games.
Last week, Tokyo 2020 organising committee president Seiko Hashimoto said: “We would really like people from around the world to come to a full stadium, but unless we are prepared to accept them and the medical situation in Japan is perfect, it will cause a great deal of trouble also to visitors from overseas.”
A decision on how many domestic spectators to allow to attend Olympics events will be made in April.
Any limitation on overseas or domestic spectators will require organisers to refund ticket buyers. Kyodo said 4.45m tickets had been sold with Japan before the Games were rescheduled last year. News service AFP reported last week that 900,000 tickets had been sold outside Japan.
Ticket refunds would add yet another line to the burgeoning cost of the Games’ postponement, which was last year reported to have added an extra ¥294 billion (€2.3 billion/$2.8 billion) to the total cost of the Games. Kyodo News put the total cost at ¥1.64 trillion ($15 billion), and said ticket sales were expected to raise ¥90 billion, with the government expecting an additional large boost to the economy from spending by overseas visitors.
It has also been reported by Japanese news outlets that the opening ceremony of the torch relay in Japan on March 25 will be held without spectators, with only participants and a small number of invitees present.
The organisers have already set out restrictions on the relay, including encouraging people to watch from home on television rather than line the route and, for those that do attend live, to refrain from cheering and shouting.
In recent weeks, a number of celebrities who were due to take part in the relay have opted out.
Gymnastics test cancelled
The Tokyo World Cup international gymnastics competition, set for May 4 and planned to be an Olympics qualifier and test event, has been cancelled by the international gymnastics federation due to “travel restrictions and difficulties”.
Xinhua reported that Tokyo Olympics organisers will carry out their own ‘operational test’ of the gymnastics venue with a national gymnastics event on May 4. – Sport Business
Online Reporter