Cancelling the Tokyo Games may ‘cost three times more’

CANCELLING Tokyo’s Olympic Games could cost two or three times more than staging the event, the president of the organising committee has warned. Tokyo 2020 bosses presented a status report on the Games, which have already been delayed by a year, to the International Olympic Committee session yesterday. Enthusiasm for the event in Japan appears to be waning, with almost 30 per cent of respondents to a telephone poll of Tokyo residents calling for it to be cancelled. However, Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori took a dim view of that proposal, saying: ‘If we cancel the Games, the cost will be two times the current cost. It will create a lot of waste. There has already been investment in certain things. ‘If the Games are cancelled, who will pay the money to compensate for the losses? That would easily come to two times or even three times more (in additional cost).’ Organisers had confirmed that all venues, including those staging the sports and the Olympic and Paralympic village, had now been secured for next year. Tokyo 2020 chief executive Toshiro Muto said they had also presented 200 ways of ‘simplifying’ the Games, which would help keep increased costs of rescheduling to a minimum. He revealed that one area they were looking at was a reduction in the number of stakeholders attending, for instance from national Olympic committees. He also stressed there would be no impact of any of these changes on athletes or the competition. Rules on staging protests during the Olympic competition and ceremonies will be discussed with athletes, said IOC president Thomas Bach. Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter states that the field of play and medal events should be ‘separate from political, religious or any other type of interference’ but it has been criticised recently, with the Athletics Association saying it is not fit for purpose. There is a concern that athletes will be penalised if they show support for the Black Lives Matter movement during the Tokyo Games. ‘Solidarity and non-discrimination are in our DNA,’ said Bach, ‘so we appreciate all the athletes, and anybody, who supports these values by expressing themselves. ‘The athletes have opportunities to express their views during the Games — press conferences, mixed zones and social media. Rule 50 addresses only the field of play and the ceremonies. ‘To reconcile these values of free expression and respect for each other, the IOC Athletes Commission has initiated a dialogue among athletes on how they can express their support for Olympic values in a dignified and non-divisive way.’