Postponing the Tokyo Olympics to 2021 will make the event more costly for all parties, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) acknowledged on Thursday (Friday NZ time), although it offered few details on what the final bill might be.
Four directors of the Olympic body held a conference call three days after Tokyo’s new dates were finalised, with the games pushed back to July 23-August 8 next year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
While the new dates cleared up any uncertainty about the event’s future, there are still plenty of question marks as the IOC begins to work with Tokyo organisers and governing bodies of 33 sports in a huge task to amend thousands of contracts. They include agreements for 41 venues, an Olympic village of 5,000 apartments, hotels, transport, plus the supply of goods and services.
“All of this now has to be re-secured for one year later,” said Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s Olympic Games executive director. “There will be costs for [Tokyo local organisers] and the IOC and Olympic family side.”
The estimations for how much it will cost to postpone the games have started at US$2 billion (NZ$3.4bn) and gone much higher. Japanese taxpayers are expected to meet most of it, adding to their share of an official budget of US$12.6bn (NZ$21.3bn).
