Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga says he will “spare no effort” to ensure a safe and secure Tokyo Olympic Games to show the world that humanity has defeated the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key points:
- Delay costs may reach $3.8 billion, organisers say
- Mr Suga said a successful 2021 Games would prove the end of the pandemic
- The Tokyo Olympics are postponed until July 23
His comments come as organisers revealed postponing the Games until next year would cost the Japanese economy an additional 294 billion yen ($3.8 billion).
“I expressed my strong determination to host the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer of next year as proof that humanity has defeated the pandemic,” Mr Suga said during a video speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.
Organisers have been assessing the financial impact of the delay since the Japanese Government and International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided in March to postpone the Games until 2021.
The IOC has previously said it will contribute $874 million towards covering postponement costs.
This was in addition to the costs announced by Japanese organisers.
“Tokyo’s costs are Tokyo’s costs,” Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said.
“Tokyo 2020’s [allocation] is revenue that we can secure.
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“Within this revenue we have additional sponsorship that we have requested from partners and we also have insurance.”
Tokyo 2020 is also falling back on a contingency fund of $350 million, which was detailed in last year’s budget to cover costs.
The last official budget given by the organising committee in December 2019, months before the Games were postponed, was $16.9 billion.
Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori added that the IOC had agreed to waive any additional royalties accrued by new sponsorship deals secured by the organising committee.
“I had a video conference last night with IOC President Bach,” Mr Mori said.
“President Bach expressed his strong determination that the IOC and us should work as one team and cooperate to ensure the success of the Games.”
The Tokyo Olympic Games are to set open on July 23, followed by the Paralympic Games on August 24.
ABC/AP
