Tokyo Olympics organisers face 'massive' facilities costs for rescheduled Games

The Tokyo 2020 organising committee has advised that it is facing “massive” additional costs in securing the facilities needed to deliver a rescheduled summer Olympic Games in 2021.

Speaking at the first meeting of the 'New Launch Task Force', which has been created to oversee the rescheduling of the Games to next year, Tokyo 2020 Chief Executive, Toshiro Muto today conceded that organisers are facing “massive” additional costs in securing the facilities needed to deliver a rescheduled summer Olympic Games in 2021.

With the Tokyo Aquatics Centre the final permanent Olympics venue completed at the end of February, earlier this month Tokyo 2020 announced that all new venues for the Games had been completed.

However, Muto stressed today that it is not just the 43 competition venues that will need to be secured once again, but also thousands of existing contracts spanning the likes of accommodation, security and ticketing.

Muto advised “we need to secure the facilities. Not only the venues but the athletes’ village, training sites, storages and what not. 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.

“In short, what we have been working on for seven years came to a screeching halt just as it was about to start - and now we have to build it back again. We are going to have to cram into about six months, what we achieved in seven years so it will be difficult.”

To tackle the 'unprecedented challenge' of rescheduling the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Tokyo 2020 has created the 'New Launch Task Force' to oversee the rescheduling of the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021. https://t.co/UBA8zAdweb

— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) March 26, 2020

John Coates, Chair of the International Olympic Committee Coordination Commission for Tokyo 2020 has advised that the body is working with sport federations to secure a July-August 2021 slot for the Games.

Coates told Japanese newspaper Yomiuri that the IOC is seeking to complete a new schedule within a month, adding that the Games would need to be slotted between the tennis grand slams of Wimbledon and the US Open.

Coates noted “we want to more or less finalise the dates in four weeks’ time.”

Coates added that a summer Games would need to avoid clashes with 2021’s World Athletics Championships and World Aquatics Championships.

Both World Athletics and the International Aquatics Federation (FINA) have already said they are prepared to reschedule their events to 2022.

Commenting on the nature of the Games in 2021, Muto added “we have to decide when the opening ceremonies for the Olympics and Paralympics will be. Without that, there are a lot of things we simply cannot do.”