Fans or no fans? Oly organizers still mum

TOKYO: One of the biggest unanswered questions about the Tokyo Olympics deals with fans.

Will there be any from abroad? And will fans of any sort be allowed in outdoor stadiums or smaller indoor arenas? “Naturally, we are looking into many different scenarios, so no spectators is one of the options,” organizing committee President Yoshiro Mori said Thursday after a video call with IOC President Thomas Bach.

“We don’t want to hold the games without spectators, but in terms of simulations we are covering all the options.” The International Olympic Committee and Tokyo organizers will roll out their “Playbook” next week, a detailed plan about how to hold the games during a pandemic. It will set down strict rules for thousands of athletes arriving in Japan, about being isolated in bubbles, and then leaving the country as soon as they finish competing.

The Nikkan Sports newspaper, without citing sources, said that organizers are expected to announce “soon” that fans from abroad will not be allowed to attend. Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto said earlier in the week the decision would be announced “by the spring.” The 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes will be kept in a sterile bubble in Tokyo. But thousands of others will not, including judges, officials, VIPS, sponsors, and media and broadcasters.

Fans are the most problematic and risky with the Olympics shaping up as primarily a television event.