By Liam Morgan at the Main Press Centre in Tokyo Saturday, 24 July 2021 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has warned it will take action in cases of "blatant" breaches of the COVID-19 rules in place at Tokyo 2020 after some athletes and officials paraded without masks during the Opening Ceremony here last night. Most of the athletes and other officials from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan who marched in te event - including the respective flagbearers Kanykei Kubanychbekova and swimmer Denis Petrashov, and Tafur Rakhimov - did not cover their faces. Pakistan’s two flagbearers, pistol shooter Khalil Akhtar and badminton player Mahoor Shahzad, were also spotted without masks during the Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium.