Japan Announces Ban on Foreign Spectators at 2020 Olympics

Most fans will be banned from the postponed 2020 Olympic Games when they open in July, Tokyo organizers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Saturday.

The official announcement that spectators from overseas will not be allowed at the Summer Games follows a meeting of the “five-party” group, including the IOC, local organizers, the Japanese government, the Tokyo metropolitan government, and the International Paralympic Committee.

“In order to give clarity to ticket holders 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 will not be able to enter into Japan at the time of the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” the Tokyo organizing committee said in a statement.

Before the postponement a year ago due to the COVID-19 outbreak, organizers said that 7.8 million tickets were available for the Tokyo Games.

The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8, followed by the Paralympics from August 24 to September 5, 2021.

Why Does Greece Lead in the Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies?

Greece will once again be at the front of all the athletic teams in the opening ceremonies in the upcoming 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, perhaps prompting a question as to why Greece leads the world in this way, every two years?

Greek athletes lead the athletes’ parade simply because Greece is the place the Olympic Games in ancient times, and the Modern Olympics, were born.

The order of the athletes’ parade in the opening ceremony is otherwise alphabetical, based on the language of the host country.

However, Greece is always first and the host country’s athletes parade last. This year, Greece will lead and Japan will accordingly be last. The rest of the athletes will be in the alphabetical order of the Japanese alphabet.

The Olympic Games in Ancient Greece were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia on today’s Peloponnesian peninsula.

The first Olympic Games took place in the year 776 BC. The competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece.

The Olympic Games as we know them today were reborn in 1896 in Athens and were held at the city’s Panathenaikon Stadium.

Recognized internationally, the first Modern Olympic Games were held March 25 – April 3, 1896 by the old calendar (April 6 – April 15 by the new).

Panathenaikon Stadium was completely renovated, thanks to the financial contribution of the great national benefactor Georgios Averoff.

With information from VoA

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