Spectators have been banned from most Olympic events at the Tokyo Games after a fourth Covid state of emergency was declared in the Japanese capital on Thursday. Participating athletes will meanwhile face drastic safety measures, says Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi. “The number one goal is to make the Games safe for everyone,” Dubi, a Swiss national, told Swiss public radio, RTS, on Thursday evening. Organisers had been planning to allow up to 10,000 spectators at venues in Japan, despite fears it could lead to the Olympics becoming a super-spreader event. But on Thursday they were forced to perform a U-turn after a spike in cases of the Delta variant. This is the latest setback to the Games, delayed by a year because of the pandemic and plagued by a series of problems, including massive budget overruns. Dubi remains positive, however. “The disaster scenario is the cancellation of the Games,” the Lausanne native told RTS. “Not to hold the [Games] would be...
