The Tokyo Organising Committee will reduce the number of visiting officials to this summer's games to 90,000 or fewer as part of its efforts to simplify the event, the committee's CEO said Thursday.
Toshiro Muto told reporters that prior to last year's postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic the committee was expecting a total of about 180,000 officials from overseas.
The number of athletes has remained unchanged at about 15,000, but Muto said the number of officials may be cut further, depending on the infection situation.
The organizing committee has been asking bodies such as national Olympic committees and international sports federations to reduce the number of officials coming to Tokyo in order to simplify the games' format.
Muto said settling on the number of overseas visitors is "one of the most important factors" of the planning process due to the need to prepare accommodations and transportation. Depending on the pandemic situation, he said, talks about further cuts could be necessary.
"The (final) number may be really small if we consider (narrowing it down) to just individuals without whom the Olympics cannot take place," he said.
In an interview Thursday, International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said the IPC has achieved a 60% reduction in the number of officials from different organizations originally scheduled to attend the games.
"Only people who have a role to play, the operational role to play will be in Tokyo," he said.
The IPC has also cut the number of its own staff coming to the games by more than 25%, Parsons said.
The organizers have already decided to hold the Olympics and Paralympics without spectators from abroad to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.