Japanese Government Gives Up Overseas Audience Concerns About Infection Spread
Preemptive action amid Olympic cancellation theory
Olympic sculpture of Tokyo Odaiba Seaside Park. Tokyo/Reuters Yonhap News
The Japanese government is struggling to hold the Tokyo Olympics scheduled for July this year without foreign spectators. It is expected to be the first in the history of the Olympics, which is called a festival of people around the world, without foreign spectators. Reported on the 4th that the Japanese government, the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, and Tokyo Metropolitan Government agreed that it was difficult to accommodate overseas spectators at the Olympics. It is because it is judged that in the midst of the severe Corona 19 globally, if a large-scale entry is made from abroad, national unrest may increase and confusion may aggravate. In addition, there is an analysis that preemptive measures were needed, with the theory of cancellation or reenactment of the Tokyo Olympics both inside and outside Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is also known to have agreed to abandon overseas spectators. Tokyo Olympics Prime Minister Maruka and Tamayo met with Prime Minister Suga on the 26th of last month, saying that we should make an early decision to give up overseas crowds, and the Prime Minister agreed, citing a high-ranking government official, the newspaper said. The Japanese government is planning to confirm its official position sooner or later and pass it on to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). An official from the organizing committee said in an interview with the newspaper, “If Japan decides to abandon the overseas spectators, the International Olympic Committee will also respect it.” The crowd issue is expected to be settled no later than the 25th of this month, when the torch relay begins. As the Japanese government gave up overseas spectators, financial damage became inevitable. As about 900,000 Olympic tickets have already been sold overseas, it will lead to a decrease in income. I am worried about how far the Olympic officials will be allowed. In addition to the athletes participating in the Olympics, about 50,000 people involved in the competition, including sports organizations and Olympic Committee officials from each country, must enter Japan. The organizing committee feared that if all the officials of the Olympics entered the country without blocking overseas spectators, criticism would be raised that it would be their own Olympics. Said that domestic spectators in Japan will be allowed to enter the stadium. However, the organizing committee decided to determine what to do with the upper limit for each game, referring to pro-baseball and professional football infection countermeasures in the next month. By Kim So-yeon, staff reporter