IOC will back Tokyo 2020 “without reservation” on overseas fans, says Bach

International Olympic Committee (IOC) Chief Thomas Bach has said that the organisation will support the Tokyo Olympics organisers “without reservation” on the subject of letting overseas spectators into Japan this summer.

A decision on whether international fans will be allowed to attend the showpiece event is expected on March 25, the president of the local organising committee Seiko Hashimoto had said earlier this month.

Bach, who was re-elected unopposed as IOC president for a second term on 10th March, was asked whether the IOC had asked for an exception be made to allow in guests of Games sponsors.

Although Bach did not directly answer whether such a request had been made, but said: “We are standing shoulder to shoulder with our Japanese partners and friends, and we are supporting them without any reservation.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Bach has been re-elected as the President of the IOC for an additional four-year term.

At the 137th IOC Session held virtually, Bach received 93 ‘yes’ and 1 ‘no’ vote from the 94 valid votes.

Bach, the 67-year-old German who won gold with the West German foil fencing team at the Olympic Games Montreal in 1976, was elected as IOC President at the IOC Session in 2013 in Buenos Aires for a first eight-year term.

This term will finish on the closing day of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on August 8 this year, as decided by the IOC Executive Board.

News Desk

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