The announcement came on the eve of the official closure of the second ticket lottery for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics today.

The first ticket lottery in Japan, between May 9 and 28, saw more than 3.2 million tickets sold.

However, a huge number of people missed out as more than 7.5 million Japanese entered the ballot.

The official ticketing website was visited more than 24 million times in May with traffic overwhelming the system, prompting organisers to extend the application phase by 12 hours.

An additional ballot for those unsuccessful during the first lottery was held between August 8 and 19 as a result of high demand, with an additional 350,000 tickets sold.

Organisers considered this to still be part of the first ballot, with the second lottery launched on November 13.

In the second lottery, more than one million tickets were available for nearly every sport on the programme, as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

Applications could be made on the official ticketing website until 11.59am local time today and the results of the lottery will be announced on December 18.

Those successful will have until January 10 to complete their purchases.

After the second lottery, a first come, first served phase will open in the spring of 2020 for fans in Japan and abroad.

People living outside Japan can now purchase tickets through Authorised Ticket Resellers in their home countries, however, with that process having begun in June.

Paralympic sales began in Japan in August.

The second phase will start in January.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will run between July 24 and August 9 - the Paralympics follow between August 25 and September 6.