Former Olympic minister says March is deadline for Tokyo
TOKYO (AP) — Next spring has been set by former Olympic minister Toshikai Endo as a possible deadline for deciding whether the postponed Tokyo Games can go ahead.
“March next year is a time when we face major questions on whether athletes can be selected,” Endo was quoted as saying by Japanese broadcaster NHK on Friday. “We have to make a judgment in various ways depending on the situation then.”
Endo was speaking at a meeting of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
The Olympics are due to open on July 23, 2021, followed by the Paralympics on Aug. 24. The games had been scheduled for this year but were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“If the global coronavirus is not over by (next spring), particularly if the situation does not allow for the selection of athletes, (holding the games) would be quite difficult,”
Endo was quoted as saying by the Japanese newspaper Sankei.
Endo is the latest powerful politician to speak out this week about the games, bracing the Japanese public for possible changes and costs.
Tokyo Governor Yurkio Koike said Thursday the games were likely to be downsized and undergo many changes.
Koike spoke on a day when many to Japan’s most powerful newspapers also ran stories, citing unnamed sources, saying the games were likely to face quarantines, few fans and billion of dollars in bills.
Estimates in Japan say the postponement will cost $2 billion to $6 billion.
Japanese organizers say they are spending $12.6 billion to run the games, but a national audit says the cost is twice that much. All but $5.6 billion is public money.
Tokyo said the games would cost $ 7.3 billion when it won the bid in 2013.