The announcement was made by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach following the stadium restrictions of the games scheduled to a year later dated July 2021.

According to the Tokyo organizing committee, domestic fans who bought tickets can apply for a refund from November 10 to 30, and December 1 to 21 for Paralympics.

Overseas fans who purchased tickets from Authorized Ticket Resellers appointed by the national Olympic committee will have to seek refunds from their retailer, they added.

Moreover, refunds will be made if limited seating were available at venues due to the coronavirus.

“As the host there is a possibility that we may not be able to provide spectating opportunities to a part of the ticket holders,” Tokyo 2020 Spokesman Masa Takaya said during an online briefing. 

“In that case we will provide a refund,” he added.

Last-minute reimbursements were also being considered, in instances where the Olympic event was canceled because a player will be positive for the virus.

The Olympic officials cleared that they wanted to avoid holding the events behind closed doors, however, virus countermeasures will be making the situation harder for the cheering crowd.

Around 4.48 million tickets for the Olympics have been sold in Japan so far, with 970,000 tickets for the Paralympics, the organizing committee said.

Hidenori Suzuki, the organizing committee’s deputy executive director of marketing, said that they do not have an accurate figure for the ticket sales abroad, although he estimated about 10% to 20% of the overall total were accounted to overseas spectators.

The Games’ most recent official price tag is 1.3 trillion yen, branding it the most expensive Summer Olympics on record according to the University of Oxford in September.