Could the Olympics be held WITHOUT spectators? WHO officials ‘have discussed a fan-free Tokyo 2020 with sports federation medical officers’
- Fan-free Games were reportedly discussed by WHO and sports federations
- Officials have also discussed different strategies for indoor and outdoor events
- The Games are due to begin at a new £1.1billion stadium in Tokyo on July 24
The Tokyo Olympics could be held in empty stadiums because of coronavirus fears, it has emerged, in one scenario reportedly being discussed by health officials.
The drastic measure was suggested in a conference call between World Health Organisation officials and sports federation medical officers last week, the New York Times reports.
Officials have also discussed adopting different strategies for indoor and outdoor events or contact and non-contact sports, sources say.
The Olympics are due to begin on July 24 in Tokyo but fears for the Games have grown in recent weeks with Japan heavily affected by the virus outbreak.
Empty seats: A Japanese baseball game is held behind closed doors in Chiba last week, with officials reportedly discussing proposals to hold the Olympics in front of empty stadiums
Banning fans from the Games would mean that only a small group of athletes, sports officials and broadcasters would be allowed into Olympic events.
Some sporting fixtures have already been played behind closed doors because of the virus, including Japanese baseball games and football matches in Italy.
However, shutting the doors to Olympic venues would be a particularly drastic step with millions of tickets already sold for the Olympics and Paralympics.
The WHO did not comment on the proposal, saying that cancelling sports events is not in its remit.
However, the organisation acknowledged that the call with sports federations had taken place.
Coronavirus fears have even prompted suggestions that the Games could be scrapped altogether, although organisers insist they will go ahead.
Qualifying events have already been affected, with some tournaments postponed or moved while some athletes have faced travel issues.
Japan’s Olympic minister Seiko Hashimoto has suggested that the Games could be postponed until the end of the year, pointing to a contract with the International Olympic Committee which says they must be held within the calendar year 2020.
People wearing masks take pictures in front of the Olympic rings today in Tokyo, where the Games are due to begin on July 24
Hashimoto told the upper house of Japan’s parliament on Thursday that the final decision on holding the Games as planned rested with the IOC.
The contract says the IOC can call off the Games if ‘the safety of participants in the games would be seriously threatened or jeopardised’.
Since the Olympics were revived in 1896, they have only been cancelled in wartime.
Some athletes withdrew from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games over fears of Zika virus after an epidemic which began in Brazil.
Today the Tokyo organising committee president Yoshiro Mori said that the Olympic torch arrival ceremony on March 20 would be scaled back.
Plans to send 140 children to Greece to give the flame a send-off on March 19 have been scrapped.
The torch is due to be carried on a meandering 121-day journey around Japan, including some of the country’s most popular tourist sites.
It is due to end on July 24 at the new £1.1billion national stadium in Tokyo where the opening ceremony will be held.
Mori was asked about the opening of the Olympics on July 24 and ruled out any postponement.
Twelve deaths in Japan have been attributed to the virus, while authorities were heavily criticised for their handling of the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
More than 700 people tested positive on the ocean liner despite Japan’s attempts to contain the virus by quarantining passengers in their cabins.