Rescheduling Games will likely come at huge cost

Rescheduling the Olympic and Paralympic Games next year will incur costs that will “probably be massive”, according to Tokyo 2020 organisers.

The leading figures on the organising committee, president

Yoshiro Mori and chief executive Toshiro Muto, left no doubt that the task of reorganising the biggest sporting event on Earth was going to be a challenge on an unprecedented scale.

The Games – which had been due to start on July 24 – have been delayed until 2021 as a result of the accelerating coronavirus pandemic and the task force which must find new dates for the Games met for the first time yesterday.

“We need to secure the facilities. Not only the venues but the athletes’ village, training sites and what not,” Muto said.

“We need to assess whether they will be available when we need them next year. There will be additional costs that come with this – and we expect it will probably be massive.

“We are dealing with the postponement of the Games, which has never happened in history. The task is daunting.”

Elsewhere, the International Cricket Council has opened up its vault of memorable matches in a bid to help broadcasters and fans fill the current void left by the crisis.

With fixtures across the globe scrubbed from a usually packed calendar due to the pandemic, the world governing body has stepped in to make some old favourites from its archives available.

Toshiro Muto