Spectators now banned at Olympic baseball, softball matches in Fukushima

No spectators will be allowed to watch the Olympic matches at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium and the Sapporo Dome, the Tokyo 2020 Organising committee announced in Tokyo on Saturday.

The organisers had on Thursday decided to host all the Olympics without fans at venues in Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama.

But events at the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium would be open to spectators.

However, because of the rebound of COVID-19 in Japan, the Fukushima prefectural government informed Tokyo 2020 on Friday that it has since decided to stage all events in Fukushima without spectators.

“We, therefore, regret to confirm that no spectators will be permitted at any Tokyo 2020 events taking place at the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium,” the organisers said in a statement.

Tokyo 2020 also confirmed that no spectators would be permitted at any Tokyo 2020 events taking place at the Sapporo Dome in Hokkaido.

Spectators will still be allowed to events in Miyagi, Ibaraki and Shizuoka prefectures.

Miyagi and Ibaraki will host football matches and the track cycling events will be held in Shizuoka.