TOKYO: Japan will consider various options such as having fewer spectators and mandatory COVID-19 testing for a "simplified" Olympic Games next year to avoid the outright cancellation of the event, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday (Jun 4). 

John Coates, the head of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) inspectorate for Tokyo, has said a lack of a defence against the new coronavirus threatened the Games and organisers had to start planning for what could be a "very different" Olympics if there were no signs of COVID-19 being eradicated.