Sport
sport
Share
Olympics organisers agree to hold games without spectators
Published 14:32 8 Jul 2021 BST
Homesport
The news comes after Japan announced a state of emergency across the country.
The Olympics Games this summer will go ahead without spectators as Japan continues to see a rise in coronavirus cases. According to Reuters, Japan's Olympics minister said organisers agreed that fans should not be allowed to attend. The president of the Games in Tokyo, Seiko Hashimoto, said that the situation was "regrettable" and has apologised to those who have already bought tickets. Authorities in Japan had previously said that they hoped to be able to welcome crowds of up to 10,000 to events at the games this summer. Earlier on Thursday, the country's Prime Minister declared a state of emergency in Tokyo that will be in place until August 22. This will include the duration of the Olympics.Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told the media: "Taking into consideration the effect of coronavirus variants and not to let the infections spread again to the rest of the nation, we need to strengthen our countermeasures.
"Given the situation, we will issue a state of emergency for Tokyo."
The Olympic Games are scheduled to take place in the Japanese capital between 23 July and 8 August. The Paralympic Games are between 24 August and 5 September.Explore more on these topics:
