Fans banned with Olympics to be staged under state of emergency

A security guard wearing face masks guards outside the National Stadium in Tokyo (Shinji Kita/AP)

Fans were banned from the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics which will open in two weeks, following a state of emergency, Olympic minister Tamayo Marukawa told the Japanese news agency Kyodo.

The ban was announced by the International Olympic Committee and Japanese organisers, reducing the games to a made-for-TV event.