by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:40 AM ET, Thu March 4, 2021
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics will reportedly be closed off to fans from outside Japan.
According to The Associated Press, local media outlets reported Tokyo Olympic organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto spoke with IOC President Thomas Bach and other officials on Wednesday.
During the conversation, an unnamed source told The AP the committee made the decision to ban international visitors coming to Japan to watch the Olympic Games. While Hashimoto did not confirm the report, she said the concerns about safety from the Japanese people must be addressed.
"If the situation is tough and it would make the (Japanese) consumers concerned, that is a situation we need to avoid from happening," Hashimoto told Japanese newspaper Mainichi.
Hashimoto also said that an official decision on whether foreign fans would be in attendance would come by the end of the month, but she wants to know the answer by March 25 when the torch relay begins from northeastern Japan.
The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to begin on July 23.
Before the meeting was closed to reporters, Bach spoke about how the committee's focus is on the competition and the safety of the 11,000 athletes and 4,400 Paralympians expected to arrive in Japan for the Olympic Games.
Bach also said a major focus is having the athletes participating in the Tokyo Olympics receive a vaccination before the start of the games. "There I can inform you that a considerable number of national Olympic committees has already secured this pre-Tokyo vaccination," Bach said.
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