TOKYO (Reuters) – More Japanese government officials and 2020 Tokyo Olympics organisers are leaning toward holding the Games with domestic spectators as COVID-19 vaccines are rolled, the Asahi newspaper reported without citing sources.
This is in contrast with their position about a month ago when there was an atmosphere among Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s administration that the Games, starting July 23, needed to be held without spectators, the report said.
Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto on Tuesday said the organisers would announce its plans for spectators before the end of this month after consulting with the Japanese government, as well as the Tokyo administration, the newspaper said.
Foreign spectators are already prohibited from the Olympics and Japanese may also be kept away from what organisers promise will be a sanitised “bubble” event to minimise contagion risk.
The Olympics have been postponed by a year amid concerns over how organisers can keep volunteers, athletes, officials and the Japanese public safe during a fourth COVID-19 wave.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Michael Perry)
