Tokyo (AFP)
Japanese organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, postponed to the summer of 2021 due to the coronavirus, announced Wednesday they are targeting 30 billion yen (241 million euros) in savings through various measures of "simplification" and " optimization "already established to reduce the wings of the event.
These savings will be realized in part through a reduction in personnel and decoration costs, the organizing committee said in a statement.
But the final cost of the event, officially budgeted before the pandemic at more than 11 billion euros for the Japanese side, remains uncertain because the additional expenses caused by the postponement of the coronavirus have not yet been made public.
“Tokyo 2020 believes this work will help create a model for future world events, including the upcoming Games, as part of the new normal we live in now,” the statement said.
Organizers said they would present an updated budget, taking into account additional costs and the price of Covid-19-related countermeasures by the end of the year.
On September 25, plans to organize less flashy and less ambitious Olympic Games were unveiled in Tokyo, including a reduction in the number of free tickets, fewer official guests, the elimination of certain ceremonies and savings on decoration, mascots and pyrotechnics.
The 2020 Games have been postponed to the start of the year as the coronavirus has spread around the world.
Their opening is now scheduled for July 23, 2021.
The persistent pandemic still casts doubt on the very feasibility of the Tokyo Olympics, supposed to bring together 11,000 athletes from around the world.
But the Japanese organizers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have been more confident in recent weeks, encouraged in particular by the return of leading international sports competitions.
© 2020 AFP