Picture Credit: Olympics
With just a month left for the mega event - Tokyo Olympics to begin, the preparations are on a high. The much-awaited sporting tournament which was pushed back after the outbreak of COVID-19 last year if finally set to take place this year from July 23 to August 8. With the days closing the start of the event, Tokyo Olympics organising committee has some major decisions to make. On Monday, the organising committee announced that upto 10,000 fans will be allowed at all venues in the games for each event. In light of the government's restrictions on public events, the spectator limit for the Olympic will be set at 50 per cent of venue capacity, up to a maximum of 10,000 people in all venues," the organizers mentioned in a statement.
Notably, this decision comes after so-called Five Party talks with local organizers, the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, the Japanese government and the government of metropolitan Tokyo.
A decision on spectators at Paralympics to be taken on July 16
As the decision on the presence of spectators & fans at the event was decided in a close call, a decision on spectators at the Paralympics will be taken by July 16, that means it will be taken just a week before the Olympics commence. "If there should be major dramatic change in the infection situation, we may need to revisit this matter amongst ourselves and we may need to consider the option of having no spectators in the venues," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike mentioned.
Some medical experts and government advisors believe that it’s better if the Games are conducted behind closed doors, as it will be ideal from health and safety perspective.