Tokyo Olympics: Japan may take 'simplified' approach to games and downsize crowds, governor says

IOC member John Coates, who looks over Tokyo's preparation, says they are looking at 'real problems'

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year, but even with a 2021 date set, the Games could see major changes for safety reasons. It's likely that events will have fewer spectators in the stands and athletes may even be quarantined, according to the Associated Press. 

Japan politicians are discussing what the games will look like next summer, and the AP reports that words including "downsized," "simplified," and "very different" are being used to describe the 2021 games. 

"We will move ahead with the items that should be streamlined and simplified. First of all we need to gain the understanding of Tokyo residents and the Japanese people," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said, via the AP.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach also addressed the public and briefly mentioned the possibility of empty stadiums. Frequent virus testing, as well as quarantining athletes, are both possible at next summer's event. 

Due to the nature of the Games, which includes people traveling from around the world to attend, IOC member John Coates, who looks over Tokyo's preparation, says they are looking at "real problems."

Between the Olympics and Paralympics, 15,400 athletes attend the games -- and that's not including staff, officials, media and up to 80,000 volunteers. 

Millions of tickets have already been distributed, which can potentially make the fan situation worse. Ticket sales account for $800 million of the organizing committee's budgeted income, and a clause in the sales may allow organizers to dodge giving refunds to fans who will lose out on their seats.

The IOC and organizers have not yet announced what the overall cost remains for Japan or how the country will or will not be assisted in footing the bill. Before the games were postponed, organizers said they were spending $12.6 billion, though other estimations from a government audit had the number at double the cost. The audit said most was coming from public money, with only $5.6 billion from somewhere else.