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TOKYO: The Tokyo Olympics delayed by the coronavirus could cost $ 1.9 billion more than its original budget of $ 13 billion, an increase of 15%, according to a report on Sunday (November 29).
The organizers of the Olympics will formally decide on the budget increase for the Games in mid-December after communicating with the Japanese government and the host city of Tokyo, Yomiuri Shimbun reported, citing anonymous Olympic sources.
The 2020 Games were delayed a year as COVID-19 spread around the world, and is now scheduled to open on July 23, 2021.
But the delay has generated a plethora of new costs, from changing the reservation of venues and transportation to retaining the huge staff of the organizing committee.
With many countries experiencing a second or even a third wave of infection, there have been questions about whether the event can be held, but organizers and Olympic officials insist that it can be done safely.
The additional 200 billion yen ($ 1.9 billion) in the pre-coronavirus estimate of 1.35 trillion yen ($ 13 billion) comes despite organizers cutting $ 280 last month. million by cutting everything from personnel to pyrotechnics, but the new figure does not include the costs of coronavirus-related measures, according to the report.
Officials hope the Japanese government will pay for measures linked to the virus, he said.
Plans were unveiled in September for a more low-key and lower-cost Olympics, with fewer free tickets, the elimination of athlete welcome ceremonies and savings on posters, pets and meals.
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The report comes after a senior official said on Friday that test events for the Tokyo Olympics will resume in March and that a decision on fan attendance will be made in the spring.
Organizers and officials are considering a long list of possible countermeasures against the virus that they hope will make the Games possible, even if no vaccine is available.
The head of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, said earlier this month that he was “very confident” that the Games will have a following.
But enthusiasm for the Games appears to have waned in Japan, with polls over the summer finding that only one in four Japanese wanted them to happen, with the majority supporting a further postponement or total cancellation.
Officials from the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee could not immediately be reached for comment.
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