Spectators from overseas are banned due to the COVID-19 of the Tokyo Olympics.

After all the rumors and unconfirmed reports, it’s finally official: there will be no international spectators at the Summer Olympics in Japan. About 600,000 tickets were sold to people outside Japan and about 4 million to people in the country. Any tickets already purchased by someone living outside of Japan will be refunded. The decision was announced on Saturday after a virtual meeting between the various stakeholders in the Summer Games, including the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and the local and national governments.

“Currently, the COVID-19 situation in Japan and many other countries around the world is still very challenging, and a number of different tribes have emerged, while international travel worldwide is severely limited,” the statement said in a statement. word. ‘To give clarity to the cardholders 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 would not be able to enter Japan during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. ”

The Tokyo Summer Olympics were scheduled for last year and the organizers had to postpone the event for the first time in its history due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Summer Olympics are now scheduled from July 23 to August 8, while the Paralympic Games take place from August 24 to September 5. Japan seems determined to hold on to the Olympics, even though the population seems to be largely opposed. In a recent poll, about 80 percent of the people in the country voted to postpone or cancel the Olympics.

Experts believe that although the ban on spectators from abroad would certainly reduce the risk, many people would still go to Japan for the Olympics, and this could lead to deaths. “Everyone wonders if this is something we should do if we take such a risk?” Norio Sugaya, a specialist in infectious diseases at Keio University in Tokyo, told the Wall Street Journal.