Olympic Venues in Tokyo Area to Have No Spectators

Tokyo, July 8 (Jiji Press)--Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics and related officials agreed Thursday to ban spectators from venues in the Japanese capital and the three neighboring prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama. This means that the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics, set to take place at the Japan National Stadium in central Tokyo, will have no spectators. The Olympics are scheduled to kick off on July 23. The agreement came after the Japanese government said earlier on Thursday that Tokyo will be placed under a COVID-19 state of emergency from Monday through Aug. 22, a period that covers the entire duration of the Olympics. "We decided that allowing no spectators will help us gain understanding of holding the events," Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee, said at a press conference. "We're very sorry for those who had been looking forward to watching the events at venues," she said. Previously, all venues could have been filled up to 50 pct capacity with a maximum of 10,000 spectators at each event. Under Thursday's agreement, venues in Miyagi, Fukushima and Shizuoka prefectures will allow spectators at up to 50 pct capacity with a maximum of 10,000. In Ibaraki Prefecture, only spectators under a program that provides elementary, junior and high school students across the country with opportunities to watch the Olympics will be permitted. A decision remains to be made over Hokkaido. For the Paralympics, set to start on Aug. 24, the status of spectators will be discussed after the closing of the Olympics. Thursday's talks brought together Hashimoto, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, Japanese Olympics and Paralympics minister Tamayo Marukawa, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons. END