The organizing committee of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics is expecting to cut about 30 billion yen in expenses that were originally budgeted for the events this summer, according to an Olympic source.
The postponement of the events for a year has necessitated hundreds of billions of yen in additional costs and, as the organizing committee prepared to present a status report on cost-cutting measures Wednesday to the International Olympic Committee Executive Board, it will aim to make further cuts.
At the end of last year, the budget for the Tokyo Games stood at 1.35 trillion yen. After the spread of the novel coronavirus led to the decision in March for the one-year postponement, the organizing committee and IOC worked together on a policy of simplifying the events that both prevents infections and reduces hosting costs.
On Sept. 25, the two sides agreed on 52 items for simplification. The plan includes such measures as reducing the number of non-athlete personnel by 10-15% and cutting down on decorations at competition venues by 30-40%.
The organizing committee has cancelled the opening ceremony of the IOC General Assembly, scheduled to be held just before the start of the Games, and cut back on security and amenity costs for IOC officials among other things, resulting in a total reduction of about 30 billion yen.
Conversely, such proposals as reducing the scale of the parade of athletes for the opening ceremony and shortening the torch relay, which could have resulted in major cuts, were also discussed, but organizers were unable to obtain the consent of the IOC, which receives massive broadcasting rights fees from U.S. television stations, as well as sponsors and local governments, according to the source.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
