Andrew Hoy riding Bloom Des Hauts Crets at the Ready Steady Tokyo Test Event in 2019. © FEI/Yusuke Nakanishi
By Equestrian Life
A maximum of 10,000 spectators will be allowed at each sporting venue during the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo.
During a meeting yesterday between the IOC, IPC, and key Japanese authorities, it was decided to limit spectator numbers to 50 per cent of each venue’s capacity at the Olympic games.
Spectator limits for the Paralympic Games, which will run from 24 August to 5 September, will be decided by 16 July.
While there will be no international spectators, residents of Japan will be allowed to attend the Olympic Games set to begin in 31 days.
Further plans for the upcoming Tokyo Games were also released following the meeting.
The key decisions are as follows:
· The current competition schedule remains unchanged. In principle, spectators will be admitted to events subject to the above limits.
· Students in the schools’ spectator programme and their supervisors will not be considered in these limits and will be treated separately, as they are not spectators.
· In the event that a state of emergency or other priority measures aimed at preventing infection are implemented at any time after 12 July 2021, restrictions on the number of spectators at the Games, including non-spectator competitions, will be based on the content of the state of emergency or other relevant measures in force at that time.
· In the event of any rapid change in infection status and in the capacity of the medical care system, a five party meeting will be held promptly to consider further measures.
· The Japanese parties have formulated guidelines for spectators aimed at ensuring safe and secure environments. These stipulate that masks should be worn in venues at all times; speaking in a loud voice or shouting will be prohibited; congestion should be avoided by means of appropriate announcements; and visitors should leave venues in a staggered manner. Spectators will be requested to travel directly to venues and return home directly, and to take all necessary precautions when moving between prefectures.
· Given the COVID-19 situation, the Japanese parties intend to look into either cancelling or reducing the scale of any live sites and public viewing events to minimise the movement of people, review any other Games-related events, and establish new safe and secure ways of cheering and supporting the athletes.
· A framework will be implemented to keep monitoring the status of infections and medical care using expert advice.
· The equivalent policies governing the Paralympic Games will be decided by 16 July 2021, a week before the opening of the Olympic Games.
Information source: Equestrian Australia media release
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