It's official: Due to coronavirus concerns, no overseas spectators will be allowed at Tokyo Games

The organizers of this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics decided on Saturday that the games will be staged without overseas spectators due to the coronavirus pandemic, the games’ organizing committee said.

The organizers came to the decision during a high-level remote meeting on Saturday, just five days before the 121-day Olympic torch relay starts in Fukushima Prefecture. The meeting was attended by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo Organising Committee, International Paralympic Committee chief Andrew Parsons, Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike and Olympic minister Tamayo Marukawa. Overseas fans with event tickets will receive refunds.

The government had already concluded that welcoming overseas spectators for the global sporting event is not feasible, given that the threat from the virus is far from over and amid fears that foreign travelers could lead to the spread of more contagious variants, officials with knowledge of the planning said earlier.