‘Japanese government does not want foreign fans at the Olympic Games’ | Sport

sport">The Mainichi newspaper had previously written that the Japanese government does not want to allow foreign sports fans to visit Tokyo this summer. According to anonymous sources, the government would like to remove the unrest among the population, which fears a further spread of the corona virus.

sport">According to Hashimoto, a decision will be taken this month on the arrival of ‘overseas’ fans, while a decision will follow in April on the number of spectators allowed into the stadiums. Security of Japanese citizens is a priority, said the recently appointed president, a seven-time Olympian. Hashimoto prefers to know what the options are before March 25. On that day the previously postponed relay starts with the Olympic flame. “We have to think very carefully about the mutants of the virus. There is still fear in the population and while it is there we have to work hard for safety,” said Hashimoto. “Fans from other countries as well as those in Japan want to experience the Games up close, but that is only possible if safety is guaranteed.”

sport">The Olympic Games were postponed by a year due to the corona pandemic. Surveys have shown that, given the current uncertain state of affairs around corona, a large part of the Japanese population is in favor of new postponement or even cancellation. “Under the current circumstances, we cannot accept spectators from abroad anyway,” the newspaper quotes a source.

sport">“Security is paramount,” Tokyo’s governor Yoriko Koike said on Wednesday. IOC chairman Thomas Bach called the measures against the coronavirus “the key to the success” of the Games in Tokyo.

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