Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee Chairman Seiko Hashimoto and Executive Committee Director General Toshiro Muto
Tokyo … News Time
Seiko Hashimoto, head of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee, has hinted that a decision on the number of domestic spectators for the Tokyo Olympics will probably be postponed for now. He expressed the view after the International Olympic Committee’s board meeting yesterday that some more time might be needed. The decision not to allow foreign fans was made in March. A general announcement on the limit for allowing domestic fans was initially expected by the end of April. The director general of the executive committee, Toshiro Muto, has hinted that a decision may not be made until June. He said the last-minute decision would be inappropriate for those who have tickets. He added that in order to keep a close eye on the spread of the virus in Japan, the executive committee should discuss the issue with the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, the Japanese government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Municipality as early as next week.
On the other hand, the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, has said that the imposition of a state of emergency in Tokyo will not have a direct impact on the Tokyo Games. The Japanese government is considering declaring a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other prefectures to curb a new rise in corona virus infections. She plans to make a formal decision on Friday after consulting with experts. Thomas Bach was speaking at a press conference after a closed-door board meeting of top management of the International Olympic Committee, IOC, and yesterday. “We believe this will be a step towards controlling the situation for the Golden Week holidays, through which the government seeks to curb the spread of the infection,” he said. He emphasized that the possible state of emergency was not related to the Olympic Games, which began in July, but to the upcoming holidays. Thomas Bach cited anti-corona virus measures developed for the Games in a playbook published by the International Olympic Committee, the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committees and others. Its revised issue is due out next week.
