Online
\nTOKYO
\nThe cost of the coronavirus-postponed Tokyo Olympics will be slashed by $280 million, said the organizers, touting a scaled-back Games with cuts to everything from staffing to pyrotechnics.
\nBut the final price of the event — officially budgeted before the pandemic at 1.3 trillion yen ($12 billion) — remains unclear because additional expenses caused by the postponement have not yet been made public.
\nOlympic chief Thomas Bach, in a virtual press conference from Lausanne, hailed the cuts as \u201ca significant result considering the circumstances\u201d.
\n\u201cMost of the expenditure had been made. There\u2019s very limited room to manoeuvre,\u201d said Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
\nPlans for a lower-key Olympics were unveiled last month, with cost-cutting measures including fewer free tickets, scrapping athlete welcome ceremonies, and savings on banners, mascots and meals.
\n\u201cThis work will help to create a model for future global events including forthcoming Games amid the new normal in which we now live,\u201d organisers said in a statement after a presentation to the IOC Executive Board.
\nThey said they would calculate an updated budget — including additional costs linked to postponement and coronavirus counter-measures — by the end of the year.
\nThe 2020 Games were pushed back a year as the deadly new disease spread around the globe, and are now set to open on July 23, 2021.
\nBut the delay has thrown up a plethora of new costs, from re-booking venues and transport to retaining a huge organising committee staff.
\nWith many countries experiencing second or even third waves of infection, there have been doubts about whether the event can be staged, but organisers and Olympic officials insist it can be done safely.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re aware some people are of the opinion that it should be cancelled,\u201d Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said Wednesday.
\n\u201cBut if we\u2019re not able to overcome Covid-19, is there anything positive about the situation? I think we can all agree that this is not a desirable situation.\u201d
\nOrganisers and officials are considering a long list of possible virus countermeasures that they hope will make it possible to hold the Games, even if a vaccine is not available.
\nBut enthusiasm for the Games appears to have waned in Japan, with polls over the summer finding just one in four Japanese people wanted to see them happen, and most backing either a further postponement or outright cancellation.
\nMuto acknowledged the importance of public support for the event.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not our intention to hold the Games without gaining understanding\u201d of people in Japan, he said.
\nIf held at all, the final shape of the Games remains unclear, with questions including whether spectators will be allowed — including foreign visitors — yet to be resolved.
\nBut IOC chief Bach was adamant that they were \u201cworking on the basis that there will be international spectators\u201d.
\n\u201cWe do not know if we can fill the stadiums to full capacity or whether other measures will have to be applied.\u201d
\nOrganisers have made clear that at the very least it will be a more sober event than the usually exuberant spectacle.
\nThey have said the size of behind-the-scenes delegations will be reduced by 10 to 15 percent, and perks also cut back.
\n\u201cAs we\u2019re in the Covid-19 world, are we in a world where the flashy event that we used to think of as normal before is still suitable? We\u2019ve reached a turning point in this regard,\u201d Muto said.
\nBach defended the costly opening ceremony as a host country\u2019s vital window to the world, but also conceded \u201cthere may very well be\u201d a simplification of the original plans for the ceremony.
\nIOC Sports Director Christophe Dubi, speaking alongside Bach in Lausanne, added however that it was \u201creally premature\u201d to be talking of what changes might be made.
\n\u201cBy December we\u2019ll have a clearer picture,\u201d Dubi said in reference to the timing of the first interim report on the Games will be released.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Online TOKYO The cost of the coronavirus-postponed Tokyo Olympics will be slashed by $280 million, said the organizers, touting a scaled-back Games with cuts to everything from staffing to pyrotechnics. But the final price of the event — officially budgeted before the pandemic at 1.3 trillion yen ($12 billion) — remains unclear because additional expenses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n