After many months of insisting domestic spectators would be safe at the Tokyo Games amid the pandemic, organizers have backtracked due to a spike in Covid-19 cases prompting the Japanese government to declare a state of emergency.
In response, organizers met to discuss the situation and issued the following joint statement:
The conclusion of the Five-Party Meeting held on 21 June 2021 included: “In the event that a state of emergency or other priority measures aimed at preventing infection are implemented at any time after 12 July 2021, restrictions on spectator numbers at the Games, including non-spectator competitions, will be based on the content of the state of emergency or other relevant measures in force at that time.”
In response to the state of emergency, stricter measures with regard to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 have also been decided by the three Japanese parties. No spectators will be allowed into any venues in Tokyo during the Olympic Games. Under this policy, in areas where emergency measures are not in force, local government authorities will meet and decide specific measures in consultation with the local governors based on the situation in each area.
In the event of a significant change in the state of infection, a Five-Party Meeting will be convened immediately to review the spectator capacity.
Following the same discussion on 21 June, it was also stated: “The policy for the Paralympic Games will be decided by 16 July, one week before the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games.” However, it will now be necessary to make a decision based on the infection situation prevailing at the time. For this reason, the decision regarding the admission of Paralympic event spectators will now be taken when the Olympic Games end.
The IOC and IPC, respecting this decision, support it in the interest of safe and secure Games for everybody.
At the same time, all five parties deeply regret for the athletes and for the spectators that this measure had to be put in place for the reasons outlined above.
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