TOKYO – Spectators abroad will be barred from participating in the Tokyo Summer Olympics, organizers of the event said, a move to reduce the possibility of the coronavirus spreading to the Games and to increase lukewarm support for the event among the Japanese.
The Tokyo Games will open on July 23, a year later than planned, after the pandemic forced a delay. A decision on the level of spectators for those in Japan will be made in April, local organizers said.
Tickets sold to spectators abroad will be refunded, organizers said. About 600,000 tickets were sold to people outside of Japan and about 4 million to people in Japan.
“Our first priority has been, is and remains the safety of all participants in the Olympic Games and, of course, of the Japanese people to whom we owe so much respect,” said Thomas Bach International Olympic Committee President.
Japan has been much less affected by coronavirus than the United States and many Western countries, with fewer than 9,000 deaths. The spread of new variants of the virus has deepened concerns in Japan that an influx of visitors to the Olympics could speed up Covid-19 cases.