The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday gave assurance to a number of international sports federations and bodies that the delayed Tokyo Olympics will commence from July 23.
The IOC along with the Tokyo organizing body have been keeping virtual meetings in the week with nearly 200 national Olympic committees and also with over 30 summer sports bodies that are on the programme.
IOC sports director, Kit McConnell addressed the delegates in the virtual seminar, “We are very confident that the games in Tokyo next year will take place.. We are moving forward on this basis.”
The IOC and the local organisers have been doing rigorous campaigns to regenerate the interest in the Japanese public and also asserted the sponsors who have invested billions of dollars that Olympic can be scheduled and organized amid the pandemic.
The definite plans will be revealed only in the later part of the year or early 2021. The rising concern is about how will over 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes enter the premises of Japan safely along with the staff which accounts to thousands of them, technical officials, sponsors, media and broadcasters.
It is still ambiguous whether non-Japanese fans would be allowed or that Japanese spectators would be permitted to populate the venues.
The local organizers declared cuts to the Olympic program estimated about $280 million- accounting to 2% of the official budget. The Tokyo officials are yet to reveal overall cost figure of the delay.
Andrew Ryan, executive director of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations broached the cuts in his opening address on Thursday. “From the IF’s (international federations) point of view, it is really important that any savings we collectively identify must be real or significant savings that do not impact or increase risk of operations,” Ryan spoke
“We understand the need to keep the media and public opinion on board both in Japan and around the world, but we must not lose sight of the need to make meaningful savings,” Ryan further added
Tokyo has revealed that it is officially spending $12.6 billion for the Olympics, but a government audit report mentions twice the amount.
