It will be forbidden for athletes competing in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo to have sex or engage in any other intimate activities. In order to avoid the spread of Covid-19, athletes are being warned against close contact with others and they have been told that none of the 160,000 free condoms which are given out as an Olympic tradition should be used during the games.
No alcohol, no hugs, no cheers and no autographs – Tokyo Olympic organisers have unveiled tough new rules for spectators at the Summer Games, due to begin in a month.
Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Games, warned on Wednesday that festivities “will have to be suppressed” to keep the event safe and conceded that organisers will need to be “creative” to stoke a celebratory atmosphere.
“In Europe, the venues are filled with celebration,” Hashimoto said. “Unfortunately, we may not be able to do the same.”
Once inside, they are forbidden from cheering or “making direct contact with other spectators” and will be asked to go straight home after the end of the event. Asking athletes for autographs or “expressing verbal support” is also a no-no, as is waving a towel or “any form of cheering that could create a crowd”.
“The festive mood will have to be suppressed – that has become a major challenge,” Hashimoto told reporters. “People can feel joy in their hearts, but they can’t be loud and they have to avoid crowds.
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“Those are the areas where we need to be creative, and we are putting in a lot of effort to come up with a new way of celebrating.”
Hashimoto said the ban was decided “to alleviate the concerns of the public as much as possible”.
Nobuhiko Okabe, an infectious disease specialist said, “Without the proper measures in place, it will only take one person to bring in the virus and spread it, especially in places like the athlete village.
“We have to do what we can to make sure an outbreak doesn’t happen, and we really need the cooperation of all the athletes and delegations to make this work.”
In a statement, the Tokyo Games said, “Quarantine for six days is required for some countries where the same treatment will be imposed on athletes and media. We wanted to make sure we have a countermeasure with variants.
“Now the Japanese government and the IOC and International Paralympic Committee are currently in ongoing discussions about what our countermeasures will be during the Games.
“Our perspective is that we have to make it absolutely a safe Games because they will come to Japan to compete, and we want to make sure the process is not too impactful for them performing. So these are the things that we are looking at.”
