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TOKYO (AFP, REUTERS) – Foreign fans will not be able to participate in the Tokyo Olympics postponed by this year’s pandemic due to ongoing concerns about the coronavirus, organizers announced on Saturday (March 20).
“To give clarity to ticket holders living abroad and to allow them to adjust their travel plans at this stage, the parties on the Japanese side have concluded that they will not be able to enter Japan at the time of the Olympics and Paralympics, “the Tokyo 2020 organizing body said in a statement.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) “fully respect and accept this conclusion,” he added.
Olympic and Paralympic tickets purchased by overseas residents will be refunded, according to the statement issued after a five-part meeting that included IOC Director Thomas Bach and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.
“It is very regrettable,” he told reporters after the meeting about the decision, but added that the conclusion was “unavoidable” given that the top priority for a successful Games would be the health of the athletes and the Japanese public.
The Olympic Games, postponed last year due to the pandemic, are now scheduled from July 23 to August 8 and the Paralympic Games from August 24 to September 5.
Earlier on Saturday, the Kyodo news service also reported that the organizing committee is leaning toward banning foreign volunteers from helping at the Games.
Media polls show that the majority of the Japanese public is wary of allowing international spectators to enter the Games as the country faces the end of a third wave of the pandemic.
Sources told Reuters earlier this month that the Japanese government has concluded that it will not be able to allow viewers from abroad.
Organizers of Beijing 2022, meanwhile, on Saturday released the latest version of the competition schedule for the Paralympic Winter Games, with the first gold ever to be won in downhill alpine skiing.
The new update was released after the approval of the IPC and is still subject to change as preparatory work progresses.
The 2022 Beijing Paralympic Winter Games will be held from March 4-14, with top athletes competing in 78 events across six sports, namely downhill skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, chair curling. wheels, for biathlon and for cross-country skiing. .
The world wheelchair curling championships are scheduled to take place in Beijing in October 2021, subject to an agreement between the IPC, the World Curling Federation and the Beijing 2022 organizing committee.
The final decision on the event will be made three months before after assessing the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions associated with international travel.
Trials for snow sports were completed in February, and trials for ice hockey and wheelchair curling will take place in April, all of which are restricted to national athletes due to Covid-19 considerations.
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