Joint statement on spectator capacities at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

July 8, 2021

Joint Statement on Spectator Capacities at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

Today, following the decision by the Government of Japan (GoJ) to announce a state of emergency in Tokyo, the five parties, namely the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) and the GoJ came together for a meeting.

During this meeting, the IOC and the IPC were informed by the Japanese side about the impact of this announcement on the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 and supported the policies that were presented by the Japanese parties.

The main decisions are as follows:

The GoJ today decided to announce a state of emergency in Tokyo. The state of emergency in Tokyo is being implemented as a measure aimed at suppressing the flow of people in order to prevent the spread of infection now, because the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases remains high and the number of people infected with variant COVID-19 strains in Tokyo is increasing.

The conclusion of the Five-Party Meeting held on 21 June 2021 included: “In the event that a state of emergency or other priority measures aimed at preventing infection are implemented at any time after 12 July 2021, restrictions on spectator numbers at the Games, including non-spectator competitions, will be based on the content of the state of emergency or other relevant measures in force at that time.” In response to the state of emergency, stricter measures with regard to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 have also been decided by the three Japanese parties. No spectators will be allowed into any venues in Tokyo during the Olympic Games. Under this policy, in areas where emergency measures are not in force, local government authorities will meet and decide specific measures in consultation with the local governors based on the situation in each area.

In the event of a significant change in the state of infection, a Five-Party Meeting will be convened immediately to review the spectator capacity.

Following the same discussion on 21 June, it was also stated: "The policy for the Paralympic Games will be decided by 16 July, one week before the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games." However, it will now be necessary to make a decision based on the infection situation prevailing at the time. For this reason, the decision regarding the admission of Paralympic event spectators will now be taken when the Olympic Games end.

The IOC and IPC, respecting this decision, support it in the interest of safe and secure Games for everybody.

At the same time, all five parties deeply regret for the athletes and for the spectators that this measure had to be put in place for the reasons outlined above.

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