Tokyo (AFP)

The Vice-President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), John Coates, arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday, as preparations for the Olympics accelerate five weeks before the opening of the event, postponed to 2020 due to the pandemic .

Before the arrival of Mr. Coates, several dozen people demonstrated against the Games in the Japanese capital, although recent polls show a weakening of the opposition of the Japanese population.

During the day, the organizers of Tokyo-2020 will publish the final version of their measures against the coronavirus contained in "manuals" (playbooks) which, according to them, will guarantee the security of the Games.

They have already announced measures such as daily tests for athletes and GPS tracking of journalists coming from abroad, in an attempt to reassure a suspicious Japanese public.

National polls have consistently indicated that most Japanese oppose hosting the Games this summer, preferring a further postponement or cancellation.

But with the arrival in early June of the first Olympic team - the Australian softball players - there are signs that opposition to the Olympics is waning.

"I hope they organize the Games with spectators," said Michiyo Saito, 54, from the town of Ota, where the Australians live and train about 100 kilometers northwest of Tokyo. .

"They came from far away, so I wanted to support them," Ms. Saito, who was one of some 200 people admitted to the stadium where a team training match was taking place, told AFP.

- Decision expected on spectators -

A poll taken in early June found that half of Japan's population was in favor of hosting the Games, and another released on Monday evening showed that 64% of those polled were now in favor of hosting the Games.

According to this poll by the public television channel NHK, 31% of those questioned want the Games to be canceled, up from 49% in May.

In total, 64% of those polled said they wanted the Games to take place, split almost evenly between holding behind closed doors and limiting the number of spectators.

The poll did not give the option of a postponement, which the organizers totally excluded.

The organizers have already decided in March to ban spectators coming from abroad because of too high health risks and must decide this month on the presence of local spectators and if so, within what limit.

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The announcement is expected to come after a decision by the Japanese government on the state of health emergency regime in force in Tokyo and nine other departments of the country, currently scheduled until June 20.

According to local media reports, John Coates will be in quarantine for three days, after which he will be subject to certain movement restrictions.

Japan's mandatory 14-day quarantine for people arriving from abroad is relaxed for Olympic Games participants.

- Motion of censure -

About 84% of the athletes have already been vaccinated, Mr Coates told the Australian Financial Review newspaper before he left for Tokyo. "We will never be able to reach 100%", he admitted while specifying that athletes from some countries in Asia and Africa go to Qatar to be vaccinated, while athletes from South America are 'are flying to Miami and Houston for injections organized by the IOC.

In Japan, everything has been done in recent weeks to lower the number of Covid-19 cases.

The state of emergency measures relate mainly to the ban on alcohol in bars and restaurants which must also close at 8:00 p.m.

The Kyodo news agency reported on Monday evening that the government may maintain certain restrictions in Tokyo during the Games, which could limit the number of spectators who can attend.

Although Japan is in a less serious health situation than many countries with around 14,000 officially recorded deaths since early 2020, the government of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has been criticized for its management of the crisis and in particular for the slowness of the vaccination program.

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On Tuesday, opposition parties tabled a no-confidence motion, however, which is expected to fail, given the government's comfortable majority in parliament.

© 2021 AFP