Photo/Illutration A woman walks by posters promoting the Tokyo Olympics in Tokyo on July 5. (AP Photo)

Millions of fans lucky enough to win a lottery for Summer Games tickets have waited two years to find out if they'll get to see the event already, so adding four more days to their agony shouldn't be a big deal, Olympic organizers are thinking, it seems.

The Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games on July 5 said it will delay announcing the results of a new lottery to eliminate tickets from those that were won in 2019 from July 6 to July 10.

The reason for the holdup is “because the central government is expected to announce its guidelines soon regarding the COVID-19 pre-emergency measures, which expire on July 11," the committee said.

A much-hyped Olympic ticket lottery was first held in May 2019 to see highly popular events such as Samurai Japan baseball games, soccer finals and the 100-meter dash. A total of 3.63 million tickets have now already been sold.

But those who won have yet to have a ticket in hand and have not even been informed of a seat number.

On June 21, the organizers finally decided the number of spectators for each Olympic venue would be limited to 50 percent of capacity, or up to a maximum of 10,000 fans.

As a result, the committee said it would hold another lottery for those with tickets for the Opening and Closing ceremonies and eight sports, including track and field, baseball, soccer and golf.

Through the lottery, a total of 910,000 tickets, or about 20 percent of tickets sold to fans, are scheduled to be refunded.

But tickets sold through expensive "hospitality" packages and tour companies will not be affected by the June 21 decision, the organizers said. 

The decision was made under the assumption that the pre-emergency measures would be lifted on July 11.

But Tokyo's number of new COVID-19 cases have continued rising, leading to mounting concerns and political pressure to ensure safety.

The committee has said it will consider banning spectators at all events if the current pre-emergency measures are extended or another state of emergency is issued in the capital.

Related News