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Source: Reuters
FILE PHOTO: Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) President Yasuhiro
Yamashita speaks to media during a news conference in Tokyo
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Source: Reuters
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FILE PHOTO: Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) President Yasuhiro
Yamashita speaks to media during a news conference after the
announcement of the games' postponement to 2021, in Tokyo, Japan
March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Naoki Ogura/File Photo
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Japan and the International Olympic Committee postponed the
Tokyo Games until 2021 in March because of the coronavirus
pandemic.
Since then, organisers have spoken of trying to simplify the
event - which had been due to start in 10 days' time - to reduce
costs and ensure athletes' safety.
"The Games (used to be) gorgeous and extravagant, which I
experienced before...," Yamashita, a former Olympic gold
medallist judoka, said at JOC headquarters.
"But I don’t think the concept of these Games will pursue these
things. The first priority is to be safe and secure.”
Yamashita, installed as JOC chairman in June last year in place
of Tsunekazu Takeda, who is being investigated over corruption
allegations, said the pandemic was also causing his organisation
to suffer financially.
"In regards to the next fiscal year (the financial situation of
JOC) will be quite tough," he said after a difficult first year
in charge. "...I think there is a high possibility that we may
have to consider borrowing money.”
The situation under which a president of a host country’s
Olympic committee is changed a year before the Games "shouldn’t
happen," he added.
(This story has been refiled to clarify headline)
(Reporting by Jack Tarrant and Hideto Sakai; editing by John
Stonestreet)
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