Tokyo (AFP)
The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics, postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, announced on Tuesday their desire to reduce the cost of their organization by reducing personnel and infrastructure costs.
The postponement of the event to the summer of 2021 (23 July-8 August) generated additional costs for the organizers: new reservations for places, transport, extension of the staff of the organizing committee for an additional year.
According to a provisional plan, they are considering reductions in official personnel supervising the events, said the director general of the Tokyo-2020 organizing committee, Toshiro Muto, at a press conference.
He hopes to reach an agreement with the International Olympic Committee on lowering costs during a meeting scheduled for next week.
The savings, the amount of which has not been specified, will also concern infrastructure including training facilities, reception facilities, the Olympic Village or the international press center.
The organizers also plan to reduce the costs of organizing pre-Olympic events and increase the income from sponsorship and donations.
“We will continue to try to further reduce the cost of the Games,” added Toshiro Muto.
To date, the total cost of organizing the competition has not been disclosed by the organizers.
In December, the latter estimated the total cost of the Tokyo Olympics at 1.350 billion yen (11 billion euros) for the Japanese side.
Like the vice-president of the International Olympic Committee, John Coates, who told AFP last week that the Olympics would take place "with or without Covid", Toshiro Muto wants the Olympics to be held at all costs in 2021, despite the epidemic.
"We agree ... with President Coates' decision," Muto said.
The organizers of the Paris-2024 Olympic Games also want to save money.
They are preparing to edit the map of the sites that will host the Olympic and Paralympic events in an attempt to reduce organizational costs by around 400 million euros.
© 2020 AFP