Tokyo 2020: international spectators will not be able to enter Japan for the Olympic Games

Tokyo 2020: international spectators will not be able to enter Japan for the Olympic Games

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Any tickets purchased by residents abroad for the postponed Games, scheduled to start on July 23, will be refunded.

The decision was taken after a virtual meeting between the “Five Parties” – the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG), the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee and the Government of Japan – with the IOC and the IPC saying that they “fully respect and accept that conclusion”.

“Currently, the situation for COVID-19 in Japan and in many other countries around the world is still very challenging and a number of variant strains have emerged, while international travel remains severely restricted globally,” says the statement.

“Based on the current situation of the pandemic, it is highly unlikely that entry into Japan will be guaranteed this summer for people from abroad.

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“In order to provide 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 come to the conclusion that they will not be able to enter Japan at the time of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Organizers say the decision “will further contribute to ensuring safe and secure games for all participants and the Japanese public” and will not affect participants in the accredited Games, who are expected to continue to follow the “Tokyo 2020 Manuals”.

Organizers were forced to postpone the Olympics for the first time in the event’s history in March 2020 due to the Coronvairus pandemic.

The Games are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8 and the Paralympics from August 24 to September 5.

Although the number of coronavirus cases has been low in Japan compared to the United States or the United Kingdom, in recent months, his health care system has been dominated by the worst wave of infections since the start of the pandemic.

The country only started inoculating its population of 126 million people with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in late February, more than two months after the vaccine was launched in other major countries.

Since the start of the pandemic, Japan has recorded more than 455,000 cases and 8,794 deaths.

In addition to the complications of Covid-19, both the head of the Tokyo Olympics, Yoshiro Mori, and the creative chief of the Tokyo Olympics, Hiroshi Sasaki, were forced to resign after making disparaging comments about women.

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