TOKYO, July 7 (NNN-NHK) – Japan’s professional baseball and football leagues will start to let fans attend games from July 10, although the country is facing a second wave threat of COVID-19 infections.
The Japan Times said today that, both Nippon Professional Baseball and the J. League remain committed to their original plan, which will allow up to 5,000 fans into stadiums on Friday. Clubs would then be allowed to operate venues at up to half of their full capacity from Aug 1.
“Although there is a limit of 5,000, we are expecting to have our fans in stadiums starting this Friday,” NPB Commissioner, Atsushi Saito, said.
Tokyo witnessed more than 100 confirmed cases for five consecutive days but that will not change their plan.
“We are hoping that it does not lead to travel restrictions, but this is a disease. It’s difficult to anticipate (the future). But we’ll do our best, so that we won’t have anyone become infected.”
A medical panel for the two leagues recommended the leagues and teams encourage spectators to use COCOA, the COVID-19 contact-tracing mobile application, that was launched by the government late last month, the English newspaper said.
Experts from the panel also advised fans to remain aware of the risks when coming to stadiums, because the circumstances in the stands may be different.– NNN-NHK
