Tokyo Olympics: 10,000 spectators maximum allowed on competition venues

The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics, which open on July 23, decided Monday to allow local spectators, but at 50% of the capacity of each site and within a maximum limit of 10,000 people.

The competitions could however take place behind closed doors if Covid-19 infections multiply again in Japan, the organizers said in a statement.

The organizers and the Japanese authorities have finally decided 32 days before the biggest international sporting event, shaken by the pandemic.

The health risk

In March, the organizers had taken the decision - unprecedented in Olympic history - to ban the arrival of spectators from abroad because of a health risk considered too high. And since then they have not ceased to report that on spectators residing in Japan, in particular to take into account the real situation in the archipelago as late as possible. Five parties were involved in Monday's online meeting: the Tokyo-2020 Organizing Committee, the Japanese government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) .

The athletes were the first to fear a closed door and some sponsors had indicated in private that they preferred an audience, even a limited one.

Addressing the Japanese authorities at the start of the meeting, IOC President Thomas Bach said his organization would "fully support your decision" which aims to "best protect" the Japanese population and participants.

Visibly seeking to reassure, he also reiterated that more than 80% of residents of the Olympic Village would be vaccinated, as well as nearly 80% of journalists.

Certain restrictions maintained

The lifting of the state of emergency on Sunday in Tokyo and other departments sent a clear positive signal to the organizers, who were awaiting the decision of the Japanese government on whether they would accept local spectators and, if so, in which limit.

But the Japanese government has maintained some restrictions at least until July 11 and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has warned that these could be stepped up all at once if Covid-19 cases start to rise again and the medical system is again under pressure.

Health experts advising the government had estimated that it would be "ideal" to organize the Olympics behind closed doors and Japanese medical associations had outright called for the cancellation of the Games.

"Limit the risks"

On Friday, during a press conference, the president of the Tokyo-2020 organizing committee, Seiko Hashimoto, could not hide her tension: "Organizing the Games without spectators is the best way to ensure the Games in all safety. security (...). But as long as we have spectators who wish to attend the Games, we will try as much as possible to satisfy them and limit the risks ". "But if the circumstances are too unfavorable, we will be forced to give up" and this decision "can be taken until the last moment".

The organizers have been seeking for months to overcome the resistance of the Japanese public which has shown itself hostile to the holding of the Games this summer. A poll published Monday in the newspaper Asahi, however, revealed that 34% of Japanese were now in favor of the Olympics, against 14% last month.