Fewer Athletes to Attend Tokyo 2020 Ceremonies

(ATR) Tokyo 2020 organizers say they will reconsider the number of athletes at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies while the Japanese government reiterates that the postponed Games will go on as scheduled.

Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper on Monday reported that the International Olympic Committee expects only 6,000 of the more than 11,000 athletes to take part in the Opening Ceremony on July 23.

"In order to ensure the safety and security of the athletes and simplify operations at the Tokyo 2020 Games, we believe it is necessary to reconsider the number of participants at the opening and closing ceremonies and how they will enter the stadium," the organizing committee said on Monday as quoted by AFP.

COVID-19 countermeasures unveiled in December had already made it clear that not all of the athletes would be able to attend the ceremonies. The countermeasures called for staggering arrivals and departures throughout the Games to prevent full capacity at the Olympic Village. Athletes could not check in more than five days before their event and had to leave two days after completing their competition.

Both the organizing committee and the Japanese government have maintained that the Games will go ahead despite a surge in infections in Japan and around the world.

The first dissenting voice to that claim was heard last week, when Taro Kano, Japan’s administrative and regulatory reform minister, told Reuters"We need to do the best we can to prepare for the Games at this moment, but it could go either way".

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, the top government spokesman, went on television on Sunday to assure that was not the case. He was quoted by AFP on Monday as saying "There is no change in the government's stance on the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics".

Former IOC vice-president Kevan Gosper suggested over the weekend that taking the decision away from Japan, local organizers and the IOC might be the best way forward.

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. the United Nations might be best suited to determine the future of the Tokyo Games.

"If you were looking for a third party that recognizes that this has gone beyond being an issue just related to sport, or just related to national interest, by virtue of the global COVID [pandemic] and its impact then there could be a case to go the United Nations and seek their involvement in arbitrating whether the games go ahead or not," Gosper told the ABC's "The Ticket" program.

Public support for holding the Games this summer has evaporated in Japan, with two recent polls finding more than 80 percent support for either cancelling or postponing the event.

Organizers have repeatedly said that a second postponement is not an option.

Written by Gerard Farek

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