French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the July 23 opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, a minister said Friday.

French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu disclosed the plan in an interview on a public radio program, saying that "Paris needs to take over the helm."

France is set to host the 2024 Summer Games in its capital, and Maracineanu added that she and national education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer plan to visit Tokyo separately.

When asked if the Olympics would still be held despite the strong concerns of the Japanese people about the coronavirus pandemic, Maracineanu responded, "No one knows what will happen tomorrow, but the inoculation of participating athletes is progressing, and I think we are moving in the right direction."

She also stressed that in order to hold a safe Olympics, the Japanese government, the International Olympic Committee and other countries have been working closely together to minimize the risk of spreading the virus to the local Japanese population.