Olympics: Postponed Tokyo Games To Open On July 23, 2021

The Tokyo Olympics will open next year at the same time slot as those originally planned this year.

Tokyo 2020 organizers revealed on Monday that the opening ceremony would take place on July 23, 2021 – almost exactly a year from the date scheduled for the start of the games this year.

“The timing of the games is essential to prepare them,” said Tokyo organizing committee chair Yoshiro Mori. This will only accelerate our progress. ”

Last week, the IOC and Japanese organizers postponed the Olympics until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This year’s Games were scheduled to open on July 24 and end on August 9. But the almost exact delay of one year will see the closing ceremony rescheduled on August 8.

There had been talks of postponing the Olympics until the spring, a decision that would coincide with the flowering of Japan’s famous cherry blossoms. But it would also conflict with European soccer and the North American sports leagues.

Huge cost

After resisting for weeks, local organizers and the IOC postponed the Tokyo Games last week under pressure from athletes, national Olympic bodies and sports federations. This is the first postponement in Olympic history, although there have been several wartime cancellations.

The Paralympic Games have been moved from August 24 to September 5.

Mori and President Toshiro Muto said the cost of the rescheduling would be “huge” – local reports estimate billions of dollars – the bulk of the expenses being borne by Japanese taxpayers.

Muto has promised transparency in the calculation of costs and deadlines to decide on its distribution.

“Since they [the Olympics] were scheduled for this summer, all of the venues had given up hosting other events during this period, so how do we approach this?” Said Muto. In addition, guarantees will be required when we reserve the new dates, and it is possible that this may result in rent payments. There will, therefore, be costs incurred and we will have to consider them one by one. I think it will be the most difficult process. ”

Katsuhiro Miyamoto, professor emeritus of sports economics at the University of Kansai, estimates the costs at US $ 4 billion. This would cover the cost of stadium maintenance, redevelopment, rental payments, penalties and other expenses.

Japan officially spends 12.6 billion US dollars to host the Olympics. However, a Japanese government audit office says the costs are twice as high. All expenses are public money, except for 5.6 billion US dollars from an operating budget financed by private funds.

The International Olympic Committee based in Switzerland pays 1.3 billion, according to the documents of the organizing committee. The IOC contribution is intended for the operating budget.

Bach has repeatedly called the Tokyo Olympics one of the best prepared in history. However, Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso also called them “cursed”. Aso participated in the shooting event at the 1976 Olympics and was born in 1940.

The 1940 Tokyo Olympics were cancelled due to the Second World War.

As the Olympic Games approached, IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda, who also headed the Japanese Olympic Committee, was also forced to resign last year amid a corruption scandal.

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