[Source: Inside Sport]

Tokyo Olympics organizers plan to exercise extreme caution when the Olympic torch relay starts next week.

Organizers have placed some strict rules for spectators which includes the banning of cheering and shouting when the torch relay passes by.

The organizers spoke in detail on Tuesday about their plans for the relay, which is scheduled to begin on March 25 from northeastern Fukushima prefecture.

The relay will crisscross Japan for the next four months with 10,000 runners carrying the torch.

It’s also a symbolic curtain raiser for the postponed Olympics, and there is no room for error.

If the relay stumbles — if there is an outbreak of COVID-19 — it could pull down the Olympics with it and the planned opening on July 23 at Tokyo’s new national stadium.

The relay links all 47 Japanese prefectures and presents a real risk of spreading the virus, particularly with much of the organizational staff coming from Tokyo, where the COVID-19 outbreak has been most severe in Japan.

There was talk shortly after the postponement of eliminating the torch relay, which has its roots in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

But that was quickly dismissed since the relay nowadays is heavily sponsored by Coca-Cola and Toyota.

[Source: Inside the Games]