Here To Cheer: Lucky Few Allowed For Olympic Football

Few lucky football fans have been allowed to watch football matches during the Tokyo Olympics.

Koji Abe has never been to a football match before, but on Saturday he'll see his first and become one of the few in Japan to watch the Olympics in person. Strict coronavirus rules mean spectators are banned from almost all Olympic venues. The Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony unfolded in a virtually empty Olympic Stadium, with fewer than 1,000 VIPs in the 68,000-capacity arena. The capital is under a virus state of emergency because of rising infections, and several other regions hosting Olympic events have also decided to bar fans. But there are a few exceptions -- including in northern Japan's Miyagi region, where Abe will watch Brazil's women footballers take on the Netherlands. "It will be my first time watching a football game. I'm looking forward to it," the 70-year-old told AFP as he waited for a bus to the Miyagi Stadium. "It's true that I'm a bit worried about infections rising, but still, I decided to come with a friend and enjoy this."