About 950 people to watch the Olympic opening event at stadium

About 950 people, including officials and journalists, will watch Friday's opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics at the main stadium from which spectators have been banned, one of the organisers said.

In addition to that group would be performers and athletes participating in the Games, Hidemasa Nakamura, chief of Tokyo 2020's main operation centre, told a news briefing on Thursday.

Asked about the tally of 87 COVID-19 infections among athletes, officials and journalists, he said completely getting rid of the virus was "extremely difficult", making it important to quickly identify and tackle any new cases

Meanwhile On the eve of the Tokyo Games, organisers fired the director of the opening ceremony over a joke he made about the Holocaust, while media reported former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a memorable advocate for the Tokyo Games, would skip the showpiece event. 

The news is the latest in a series of embarrassments for Tokyo organisers that have sparked outrage at home and abroad, and comes just days after a well known musician was forced to step down as composer for the ceremony after old reports of his bullying and abusive behaviour surfaced.