TOKYO— Whether it is sumo, or domestic basketball or baseball matches, Japanese fans have been filling the arenas in recent days leaving Olympic athletes wondering why they will be competing in front of empty stands at the Tokyo Games.
Japanese organizers have decided to ban spectators from venues of the Olympics, which start this week, in a bid to stem an increase of COVID-19 infections, with the capital in a state of emergency until Aug. 22.
Foreign visitors were banned earlier from attending the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games.
“A state of emergency has been declared for Tokyo and on July 9 we saw the decision was to ban spectators,” Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe…
Keep on reading: Tokyo spectator ban leaves Olympic athletes perplexed