Overseas spectators will not be allowed to attend the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 due to the prevailing worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision was announced today following a virtual meeting of the Five Parties (the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG), the Organising Committee Tokyo 2020 and the Government of Japan). Olympic and Paralympic tickets purchased by overseas residents from the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee will be refunded.
The five parties agreed on 3rd March 2021 that a final decision would be announced by the end of March and today the IOC and IPC were informed by the Japanese parties that overseas spectators would not be allowed entry into Japan
Currently, the COVID-19 situation in Japan and many other countries around the world is still very challenging and a number of variant strains have emerged, whilst international travel remains severely restricted globally” says the Tokyo 2020 press release.
“Based on the present situation of the pandemic, it is highly unlikely that entry into Japan will be guaranteed this summer for people from overseas. In order to give clarity to ticket holders living overseas and to enable them to adjust their travel plans at this stage, the parties on the Japanese side have come to the conclusion that they will not be able to enter into Japan at the time of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This conclusion will further contribute to ensure safe and secure Games for all participants and the Japanese public”
Accredited Games participants coming to Japan this summer will still be required to follow the Tokyo 2020 Playbooks for their stakeholder group and a second version will be released by the end of April.
“We will continue to do our utmost to deliver a safe and secure Games in the hopes that the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be a light of hope for people all over the world” says Tokyo 2020
