Amid increased calls to postpone or cancel the games , the Tokyo Olympic Organising Committee, and bookmakers offering odds on this peculiar outcome, seem sure that the games will go ahead and that spectators will be in attendance.

The Tokyo Olympics were originally scheduled for 2020 but were postponed late last Spring as the world was rocked by the global coronavirus pandemic.

The games are now set to begin in less than six months but there is still much talk, and confusion, about how the games will function especially considering Japan is currently coming out of a huge spike in Covid-19 infections which peaked at an average rate of just under 5,000 new cases per day.

International Olympics Committee officials, headed by President Thomas Bach, are playing off Japanese media reports that state that the games will be called off.

“We are not speculating whether the Games will take place. We are working on how the Games will take place,” said Bach to Kyodo News.

"We have, at this moment, no reason whatsoever to believe that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will not open on the 23rd of July in the Olympic stadium in Tokyo," he reiterated.

With officials insistent that the games will be held the question on everyone’s mind now is what will the 2020 Olympic games look like?

The IOC’s Organising Committee has made the bold assertion that “we are not willing to see the Games without spectators”.

However, conflicting information is coming out Japan where the Japanese Olympics Committee, lead by former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, has admitted that after talks with the IOC, “no spectators is one of the options."

"We don't want to hold the Games without spectators, but in terms of simulations we are covering all the options."

While these opposing statements make discerning whether or not fans will be able to watch the Olympics live a difficult task, bookmakers seem to have made up their minds.

After comparing online betting sites we found that the odds for fans being allowed to attend the Tokyo Summer Olympics were currently priced at $1.17 for Yes and $4.25 for No.

The implied probability of these odds means that betting websites think there is an 85.3 percent chance of fans attending and a 23.5 percent chance that fans will not attend (the overlap of probabilities represents the bookmaker margin).

Despite this, recent polls done by Kyodo News in Japan have shown overwhelming support for the cancellation, or further postponement of the Olympics, with 35.5 percent of respondents calling for cancellation and 44.8 wanting postponement.

Japanese health authorities are echoing the thoughts of the country with Haruo Ozaki, the Tokyo Medical Association’s chairman, saying that fans should definitely not be allowed to come.

“I believe we should abandon the idea of holding the event and inviting people from around the world to Tokyo,” he said to The Asahi Shimbun.

“When we think about the athletes, the Games should be held. The basic objective of the Olympic Games is to have athletes gather in one place for competition. If that’s considered the objective, discussions should begin about holding the Games without spectators.”

The IOC and Tokyo Olympic Committee are set to release their "playbook" sometime this week which should contain information about fan attendance at this year’s games.