Alcohol sales banned at Tokyo Olympics

Sales of alcohol will be banned at the Tokyo Olympics next month.

“If our citizens have concerns [over serving alcohol at the Olympics], I think we have to give up on that. That’s why we have decided to ban the sale of alcohol,” Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee, told reporters on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

The decision came amid outcry after local media reported that organizers were considering allowing alcohol consumption inside Olympic venues, the news service noted.

The reports sparked the hashtag “cancel the Olympic Games,” which garnered thousands of tweets.

Last week, Japan said it would ease the COVID-19 state of emergency and switch to scaled-back measures that focused on bars and restaurants. Under the protocol, bars and restaurants are allowed to serve alcohol until 7 p.m.

The Tokyo Olympics are set to begin on July 23 after being delayed a year due to the pandemic. But the Games are not expected to look like those of previous years.

Earlier this week, Olympic organizers announced that only 10,000 local fans will be allowed to attend the Games, which is up to 50 percent capacity.

However, Hashimoto told NBC News that it’s possible spectators could be banned from the Games.

Foreign spectators were banned from the Olympics months ago to reduce the number of people traveling to Japan for the Games.

The measures come amid debate about whether the Olympics should go forward this year. According to a poll by Kyodo News, 86 percent of people in Japan are concerned about the Games spreading the coronavirus, NPR reported.