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Olympics: Tokyo Games to focus on cutting costs

Sports

By Reuters | Apr 18, 2020

**An athlete holds the Olympic torch during the flame handover ceremony. [Reuters]**

Olympics organisers must reduce costs related to the postponed Tokyo Games by focusing on the "must-haves", IOC Coordination Commission chief John Coates said following a remote meeting with Japanese planners on Thursday.

The International Olympics Committee (IOC) and the Japanese government made the unprecedented decision last month to postpone the Games, scheduled to start in July, until next year because of the worldwide coronavirus crisis.

Olympics organisers must now replan the Games without running up huge additional costs.

In an interview with German newspaper Welt on Sunday, IOC President Thomas Bach said his organisation faces several hundred million dollars in supplementary costs.

"We will be exploring all opportunities to optimise and streamline the scope and service levels at the Games, and reduce the costs that have been caused by the postponement," Coates said following the meeting with the Tokyo 2020 organising committee.

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"All of the athletes services will remain the same but there must be other areas of hosting a Games that we can look at and decide what are the must-haves and what are the nice-to-haves.”

Any changes to venues, hospitality, advertising or the swathe of other aspects that make up an Olympic Games will need to be negotiated.

The Olympic Games in Tokyo were already expected to cost $12.35 billion even before the postponement.

“Do we need to make provision for as much hospitality for sponsors, broadcasters and National Olympic Committees? We will be asking them that,” added Coates.

Coates also said that additional costs will be incurred by provisions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. [Reuters]