Japanese organisers say 2020 Games delay to cost them $2.8 billion

[December 04, 2020]    By Jack Tarrant

TOKYO (Reuters) - The postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games until next year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic will cost Japanese organisers an additional 294 billion yen ($2.8 billion), the organising committee said on Friday.

Boats tow the giant Olympic rings, which are being temporarily removed for maintenance, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at the waterfront area at Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo, Japan August 6, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

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.

Tokyo metropolitan government is expected to pay 120 billion yen, the organising committee 103 billion yen and the Japanese government 71 billion yen, organisers said.

The IOC has previously said it will contribute $650 million towards covering postponement costs. This is separate from the costs announced by Japanese organisers on Friday.

"Tokyo's costs are Tokyo's costs," Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said.

"Tokyo 2020’s (allocation) is revenue that we can secure," he added.

"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 27 billion yen 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 $12.6 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," said Mori, who was wearing a red and white mask with the words 'One Team' on the side, the slogan of the successful Japanese rugby team during last year's World Cup.

"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."

(Reporting by Jack Tarrant; Editing by Alex Richardson/Peter Rutherford/Toby Davis)

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