Fans from abroad to be barred from Tokyo Olympics

By WANG XU in Tokyo | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2021-03-22 07:05

Spectators from abroad will be barred from the postponed Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, organizers said on Saturday.

The decision was announced after an online meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Japanese government, the Tokyo government and local organizers.

The Games, which begin in July, were already delayed by a year due to the pandemic. During that period, the Tokyo organizing committee has been scrambling to forge ahead with plans to hold the world's largest sporting event while protecting both participants and local residents from COVID-19.

"The fact that spectators are not able to attend the games from abroad is very disappointing, and it's regrettable," said Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo organizing committee. "It was an unavoidable decision."

The IOC and the IPC said that "for the reason of the safety of every Games participant and the Japanese people, their conclusion is fully respected and accepted".

They stressed that all tickets to the Games already bought by overseas residents would be refunded.

Calling it a "difficult decision", IOC President Thomas Bach encouraged national organizing committees to secure vaccines for athletes, and he announced this month that China had offered to provide vaccinations for participants who required one before the Games.

But as vaccine rollout has been relatively slow in Japan, not all local spectators will have the chance to be inoculated before the Olympics open on July 23. Not all of the estimated 15,400 athletes will be required to be vaccinated to enter Japan but they will be tested before leaving home, tested upon arrival in Japan, and tested frequently while they reside in the athletes village, or at venues or training facilities.

On Sunday, Japan reported 695 new cases, bringing the total number of infections in the nation to more than 456,000 with 8,823 deaths. In order to push ahead with the Olympics, the Japanese government lifted a widespread state of emergency, which started in early January, with Tokyo the last region to exit on Sunday.

Some Japanese lawmakers had criticized the timing, but Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga insisted doing so while asking the public to continue wearing masks, wash hands frequently and refrain from dining in large groups.

许旺在东京宣布禁止外国球迷参加东京奥运会|中国日报|更新:2021-03-22 07:05东京奥运会组织者和国际奥委会周六参加了一个在线会议。[图片/机构]组织者周六表示，来自国外的观众将被禁止参加推迟的东京奥运会和残奥会。这一决定是在国际奥委会(IOC)、国际残奥委员会(IPC)、日本政府、东京政府和当地组织者举行在线会议后宣布的。奥运会将于7月开始，由于大流行，已经推迟了一年。在此期间，东京奥组委一直在努力推进举办世界最大体育赛事的计划，同时保护参与者和当地居民免受新冠肺炎的影响。“观众不能从国外观看比赛的事实非常令人失望，这令人遗憾，”东京组委会主席桥本精工说。"这是一个不可避免的决定。"国际奥委会和国际残奥委会表示，“为了每一位奥运会参与者和日本人民的安全，他们的结论得到了充分的尊重和接受”。他们强调，海外居民已经购买的所有奥运会门票都将被退还。国际奥委会主席托马斯·巴赫称这是一个“艰难的决定”，他鼓励国家组织委员会为运动员接种疫苗，并在本月宣布，中国已经提出为需要在奥运会前接种疫苗的运动员提供疫苗。但由于疫苗在日本的推广相对缓慢，并非所有当地观众都有机会在7月23日奥运会开幕前接种疫苗。据估计，15400名运动员并非都需要接种疫苗才能进入日本，但他们将在离家前接受检测，抵达日本后接受检测，并在运动员村、场馆或训练设施中经常接受检测。周日，日本报告了695例新病例，使该国感染总数超过45.6万人，8823人死亡。为了推进奥运会，日本政府解除了始于1月初的大范围紧急状态，东京是周日最后一个退出的地区。一些日本议员批评了这一时机，但日本首相菅义伟坚持这样做，同时要求公众继续戴口罩，勤洗手，避免大规模集体用餐。