Tokyo organizers are planning a ‘simplified Games’
TOKYO Tokyo 2020 chief executive Toshiro Muto said Wednesday that the rearranged Olympics will “not be done with grand splendour,” but will be simplified.
The Games, originally scheduled to start next month, were postponed for a year in March by the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, organizers have been looking at ways to reduce costs and streamline the Games.
Following a virtual presentation to the IOC executive board in Switzerland, Tokyo 2020 organizers stressed the need to simplify the Games without giving details about how it would be done.
“The Games will not be a grand splendour, but will be a simplified Games,” said Muto.
“In order to simplify the Games, we need to review and understand international federations, (national Olympic committees), broadcasters and partners. These stakeholders must act in unison to make sure of a simplified Games.”
Muto said more than 200 ideas to simplify and reduce costs for the rescheduled Games had been discussed, but gave no time frame as to when these changes might be implemented.
“We have not got to the level or stage where we have concrete ideas regarding what we can do to simplify the Games,” he said.
In May, the IOC said it would be putting up to US$650 million toward the reorganization of the Games.
Muto said Tokyo 2020 was still analyzing what costs the Japanese side would have to bear.
Despite the unprecedented challenges, Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori said that cancelling the Games had not been discussed with the IOC.
“The world has changed socially, economically and medically, so we have explained (to the IOC) how we have replanned and repositioned our organization,” said Mori, a former Japanese prime minister.
“We never discussed cancellation. It is not right to discuss based upon speculation regarding hypothetical scenarios.”