Tokyo Olympics: Japan to ban entry of foreign athletes in COVID-19 emergency

Tokyo Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo: Reuters)

Japan will temporarily suspend exemptions allowing foreign athletes to train in the country ahead of the Summer Olympics, Kyodo News reported, as it closes its borders to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases just six months before the Games.

The suspension will last until February 7, the scheduled end of the coronavirus state of emergency in the capital, Tokyo, and other major cities, Kyodo said, citing an unidentified source with knowledge of the matter.

Japan is grappling with record surges in coronavirus infections, prompting the government to tighten border controls and expand its state of emergency to cover more than half of the country’s population.

The pause of athlete exemptions would follow the government`s suspension this week of exemptions for business travellers. The temporary ban will include non-resident foreign athletes and coaches with Japanese sports leagues including J-League soccer, which begins its season next month, and Nippon Professional Baseball, which opens spring training Feb. 1, Kyodo said.

Japanese athletes will be allowed to re-enter the country but must self-quarantine for 14 days, during which they cannot practice or compete, the report said.

Meanwhile, men's Olympic soccer qualifying in North and Central America and the Caribbean was rescheduled for March 18-30 in Guadalajara, Mexico, where the tournament originally was set to be played last spring.

The US, which failed to qualify for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, is in Group A of CONCACAF with Mexico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

Honduras, Canada, El Salvador and and Haiti are in Group B. Each nation will play the other three teams in its group, with the exact schedule still to be announced. The top two teams in each group advance to the semifinals, and the semifinal winners qualify for the Tokyo Games.

Matches will be played at Jalisco and Akron stadiums.