'No loud talking and limited spectators' - all the Covid rules for the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games

A number of restrictions regarding the Games have been announced (Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images)A number of restrictions regarding the Games have been announced (Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images)
A number of restrictions regarding the Games have been announced (Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images)

The Olympic Games is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, and it comes around every four years, hosted in different countries.

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The Tokyo Olympics 2020 last year were postponed due to Covid, but will go ahead in 2021 - and with the virus still having an impact on the world, and specifically large scale events, a number of restrictions regarding the Olympic Games have been announced by organisers.

What’s different this year?

A number of rules and regulations have been put in place for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

This includes:

  • No overseas spectators allowed
  • Spectators must wear masks in venues at all times
  • Spectators must refrain from shouting or speaking loudly, and must travel directly to the venue and return home immediately afterwards
  • The spectator limit is set at 50 per cent capacity, with a maximum of 10,000 people at all venues

The announcement was made via a joint statement from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) and the Government of Japan (GoJ).

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It said: “In the event that a state emergency or other priority measures aimed at preventing infection are implemented at any time after 12 July 2021, restrictions on spectator numbers at the Games, including non-spectation competitions, will be based the content of the state of emergency or other relevant measures in force at that time”.

The statement added: “In the event of any rapid change infection status and in the capacity of the medical care system, a five party meeting will be held promptly to consider further measures.”

‘The situation will be monitored’

The statement said: “In order to conduct safe and secure Games for the whole of Japan, there will be strong coordination and cooperation with local governments to ensure the above guidelines are followed.

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“The situation will be monitored in Japan and abroad, including the status of the different variants of the coronavirus, and all necessary action will be taken promptly.

Vaccination of those involved with the Games will continue, and the vaccination status will be further updated.”

‘We have to work together’

While speaking about the decision to allow spectators at the Games, against the advice of a report from Japanese medical experts, organising committee president Seiko Hashimoto said: “There are so many cases, domestically and internationally [of] sports events with spectators.

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“By exercising thorough measures and based on the Government criteria, we believe we can hold the Games with spectators.

“The entire world is facing the same issues and we have to work together to overcome them.”

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