(ATR) The number of Olympic and Paralympic athletes at Tokyo 2020 may not have changed due to the pandemic, but the number of overseas officials and workers allowed into the country could end up being severely limited.
Kyodo News is reporting that about 78,000 will be the cap for the Games, less than half of the approximately 180,000 expected before the one-year postponement.
Last week, Tokyo 2020 CEO Muto Toshiro said the number would be 90,000 or fewer. He also said the final number could be "really small". Japan is currently in the midst of a fourth wave of COVID infections and the idea of so many people from abroad coming into the country has many worried.
Overseas spectators have already been barred from attending the Games. A decision on allowing domestic spectators has yet to be made.
The number of athletes, approximately 15,000, has remained constant.
Bach to Arrive July 12
IOC President Thomas Bach plans to arrive in Tokyo 11 days before the Opening Ceremony on July 23.
He will be busy before that, however, with an IOC Executive Board meeting planned for July 17-18 ahead of the next IOC Session on July 20-21 in the Japanese capital.
The increase in infections in Japan scuppered Bach’s plans to be in Hiroshima on May 17 to take part in the Torch Relay as part of a visit that was also supposed to include a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide.
IOC vice-president John Coates, the chair of the Tokyo 2020 Coordination Commission, revealed Bach’s travel plan on Wednesday. Coates said earlier this month that he will be in Tokyo from mid-June.
The final Tokyo 2020 CoComm meeting began on Wednesday and runs through Friday. A media conference is scheduled following the conclusion of the three-day virtual meeting.
Homepage photo: Tokyo 2020
Written by Gerard Farek
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