SOARING COSTS A THREAT TO GAMES, SAYS IOC

Tokyo, June 28: The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday praised Japanese organisers for slashing costs for the 2020 Tokyo Games, but warned that soaring Olympic budgets could see future bids dry up.

Tokyo 2020 coordination commission chairman John Coates noted that significant progress had been made since the IOC ordered local organisers to keep costs below $20 billion but added that more needed to be done.

“Apart from the fact you’ve got the budget down now to around $13 billion, the emphasis that you are continuing to work together to further reduce costs and optimise resources is not only important to you and taxpayers, but also very important to the IOC,” he said here.

“We know you can pay for the Games in a city as strong financially as yours and with the support you get from the government, private sector and sponsorship,” added Coates.

“But it is important to us that when the costs of the Games in the final analysis become public that they’re going to attract (future) candidate cities, rather than scare them off.”

The IOC pledged earlier this year to make changes to the Olympic bidding process following the withdrawal of Budapest from the race to host the 2024 Games, leaving just Paris and Los Angeles in the running. “If we appear to be pushing very hard on saving money, it’s for our own future that we are doing it — just as much as you want to do it for your taxpayers,” Coates said.

Rome, Hamburg and Boston all previously pulled the plug on their bids for the 2024 Summer Games, citing costs.