Reuters
About 18 percent of tickets sold in Japan for next year's coronavirus-postponed Olympics will be refunded, Tokyo 2020 organisers said Thursday (Dec 3), with more than 3.6 million seats still reserved domestically for the Games.
Ticket holders in Japan were given the chance to ask for refunds because of the one-year postponement to the Games caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A three-week refund window for domestic tickets closed on Nov 30.
Organisers said in a press release that refunds for roughly 810,000 tickets had been requested, out of a total of 4.45 million initially sold during the domestic lottery.
"While we plan to resell the refunded tickets, how and when they will be resold has not yet been decided," the organisers said.
A refund application window for Paralympics tickets bought in Japan will run from Dec 1-21. People who purchased tickets elsewhere in the world have been told to seek refunds from local retailers.
The Games were postponed in March in the first peacetime delay of an Olympics, and are now scheduled to start on Jul 23, 2021.
Organisers this week laid out a raft of safety measures they said would make it possible to hold the Games, even if the pandemic has not been brought under control.
While International Olympic Committee boss Thomas Bach has said he is "very confident" spectators will be allowed at next year's event, he has also warned full stadiums may not be possible as the pandemic rages on.
A decision on the number of spectators allowed is not expected until next spring.
Organisers have promised more reimbursements if events are cancelled, or fewer seats are available because of coronavirus safety measures.