Local residents and government officials are questioning the feasibility of a blanket ban on smoking at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The proposed ban will include all outdoor areas and walkways around stadiums, The Japan Times reports.

The organising committee of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have proposed a complete ban on smoking across all venues and outdoor areas, including Tokyo’s new National Stadium. Yokohama Stadium, which will host all baseball events, has eight designated smoking areas but none of these will be in use throughout the Olympic Games. The walkway from Yokohama Stadium and a nearby station will also be non-smoking, although there may designated areas nearby, The Japan Times reports.
However, local residents and government officials have voiced concerns over how successfully this ban will be enforced. Genkichi Enomoto, the secretary-general of the Kannai neighbourhood association who are responsible for cleaning around the Yokohama Stadium, told The Japan Times he was concerned about “people smoking outside smoking areas and those discarding cigarettes as litter.”
To prevent this from happening, the Yokohama Municipal Government plan on deploying staff members around competition venues in order to raise awareness of the smoking ban and to ensure that visitors adhere to it. The government of the western suburb Chofu are planning to take similar action around Ajinomoto Stadium, where football and rugby matches will be taking place. A Chofu official stated, “We must hurry to raise awareness among foreigners.”