Tokyo Olympics: Opening ceremony to have six Indian officials, no limit on number of athletes

The Tokyo Olympics gets underway in a couple of days, with the opening ceremony set to take place grandly on Friday. Meanwhile, owing to the COVID limitations, only six Indian officials would be allowed during the ceremony, along with all 127 athletes.

With just a couple of days to go before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics gets underway, the world would be watching the grand opening ceremony, set to take place on Friday. However, since the event is being held amidst the tough times surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony would have some limitations.

According to India's chef-de-mission Prem Kumar Verma, only six Indian officials would be allowed during the ceremony. Furthermore, the athletes who would be competing the next day would be barred from participating in the ceremony to avoid tiredness.

"Six officials are allowed at the ceremony, but there is no cap on athletes. However, we have advised the athletes who have events the next day to skip the ceremony and focus on their game. The ceremony is likely to last till midnight, so they should rest for their events the following day," he told PTI.

As for the following day, the Indians would be involved in shooting, boxing, archery and hockey. However, Verma asserted that the athletes currently in quarantine would not be allowed to take part in the ceremony. 127 Indian athletes are scheduled to take part during the Games, set to run until August 8.

In the meantime, 15 leaders from across the globe are expected to attend the ceremony on Friday. Reports suggest that the in-person attendance during the ceremony is likely to be below 1,000.

"The decision to limit the number of attendees during the opening ceremony at the National Stadium here was taken in view of the organisers' efforts to control the raging COVID-19 pandemic," Katsunobu Kato (Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary) told Kyodo News. While around 70 cabinet-level officials would be visiting Japan, the number of VIPs attending the ceremony is still doubtful, he added.

Among the confirmed world leaders are Emmanuel Macron (France President), Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene (Mongolia Prime Minister) and Jill Biden (USA First Lady). The Games would be held behind closed doors, as the Japanese government has imposed a 'state of emergency' to curb the spread of the virus during the Games.

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