Postponed to the summer of 2021, the Olympic Games in Tokyo (Japan) will see their cost further increased.
This Friday, the organizers announced that the total budget would now amount to around 13 billion euros, or two billion more.
This announcement comes in a context where Japanese public opinion is already mostly opposed to the holding of the Olympics next summer.
According to a poll in July, only one in four Japanese wanted the Games to take place in the summer of 2021, with the majority preferring a further postponement or even outright cancellation.
"It could be seen as too expensive or as proof that we have been very successful in controlling costs, it depends how you see it," said Tokyo-2020 Organizing Committee General Manager Toshiro Muto.
We have done all we can to earn the public's understanding.
"
THE IOC will not put its hand in its pocket
To explain this increase in the budget, the organizing committee highlighted the operational costs linked to the postponement and the financial impact of the measures against the coronavirus which will be put in place for the Games.
An additional cost assumed financially by the Japanese government, the municipality of Tokyo and the organizing committee.
If the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it will not pay money, it has agreed, according to the organizers, not to receive a percentage on the income from sponsors.
Important health security measures will be put in place as the evolution of the pandemic over the coming months remains the main unknown of these Games.
Among the measures envisaged, the organizers intend to impose limited contact between athletes, who will have to be tested regularly, the wearing of masks or the ban on shouting for spectators.
An infection control center will be set up to deal with positive cases.
Savings on mascots and pyrotechnics
They also worked on less ambitious Games including a reduction in the number of free tickets, fewer official guests, the elimination of certain ceremonies and savings on mascots and pyrotechnics, but they did not manage to lighten the bill. than 240 million euros.
The organizers have already announced the launch of a refund campaign for spectators who will not be able to attend the events next summer.
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“If you have a glass, you can consider it to be half empty or half full.
It depends on how you look at it, ”concluded the chairman of the Tokyo Games Organizing Committee, Yoshiro Mori, saying“ the new budget plan had been carefully worked out and (he) hoped the public would l 'would accept'.
