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Friday, 29 March 2024

Tokyo Games must focus on 'must haves' to cut costs - Coates

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Tokyo Games must focus on 'must haves' to cut costs - Coates
Tokyo Games must focus on 'must haves' to cut costs - Coates

IOC Coordination Commission chief John Coates says Olympics organisers must reduce costs related to the postponed Tokyo Games by focusing on the "must-haves".

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT VIDEO SHOWS: CHAIRMAN OF COORDINATION COMMISSION FOR TOKYO 2020 GAMES, JOHN COATES, SPEAKING ABOUT POSTPONED OLYMPICS AND COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DELAY, COATES SPEAKING ABOUT WHO WILL PAY THE COSTS / COATES SAYING THAT HOLDING THE OLYMPICS IN 2021 COULD BE AN ECONOMIC BOOST FOR JAPAN AFTER CORONAVIRUS CRISIS EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: VIDEO AND AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING SHOWS: TOKYO, JAPAN (APRIL 16, 2020) (TOKYO 2020 - ACCESS ALL) 1.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIRMAN OF COORDINATION COMMISSION FOR TOKYO 2020 GAMES, JOHN COATES, SAYING: (SPEAKING ON MONITOR VIA TELELINK INTO ROOM WHERE TOKYO 2020 PRESIDENT, YOSHIRO MORI, AND TOKYO 2020 CEO, TOSHIRO MUTO, ARE HOLDING REMOTE NEWS CONFERENCE) "We will be exploring all opportunities to optimise and streamline the scope and service levels at the Games, and reduce the costs that have been caused by the postponement." 2.

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(SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIRMAN OF COORDINATION COMMISSION FOR TOKYO 2020 GAMES, JOHN COATES, SAYING: (SPEAKING ON MONITOR VIA TELELINK) "Let me stress in this regard that nothing will impact on the quality of the competition, our fields of play, what is expected in the Olympics village for these athletes.

All of the athletes services will remain the same but there must be other areas of hosting a Games that we can look at and decide what are the must-haves and what are the nice-to-haves." 4.

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(SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIRMAN OF COORDINATION COMMISSION FOR TOKYO 2020 GAMES, JOHN COATES, SAYING: (SPEAKING ON MONITOR VIA TELELINK) "Do we need to have (viewing) live sites around the country?

They are nice to have but they are expensive, require policing so separate security… Do we need to make provision for as much hospitality for sponsors, broadcasters and National Olympic Committees?

We will be asking them that.

Many of the broadcasters may not have as big of a presence here - nor the advertisers - because of the economic downturn.

We will be asking them; do they need our assistance in scoping for as much hospitality?

So, we will ask these broadcasters, top sponsors, as I say live sites… They are the things that come to mind.

There was an exercise a couple of years ago where we went through, as part of the new norm, we went through the organising committee expenses and came up with 118 recommendations, which together threw up savings of around $100 million.

We are going to sit down with Mr. Muto and his different functional areas and see if we can find more savings, again, on the basis of what is not nice to have but what you must have.

I am sure we will be able to assist greatly in reducing the costs." 6.

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(SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIRMAN OF COORDINATION COMMISSION FOR TOKYO 2020 GAMES, JOHN COATES, SAYING: (SPEAKING ON MONITOR VIA TELELINK) "This is an opportunity to, we will have to adopt a number of measures addressing the potential impact of COVID-19 and that will be incorporated into the Games delivery plan for 2021." 8.

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(SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIRMAN OF COORDINATION COMMISSION FOR TOKYO 2020 GAMES, JOHN COATES, SAYING: (SPEAKING ON MONITOR VIA TELELINK) "There will also be positive economic impacts for your country and for Tokyo.

Next year, in 2021, if Japan is anywhere like the rest of the world, there is an economic downturn, a recession maybe, these Games are a very positive opportunity for an economic stimulus.

These Games can be how you kick-start the economy again.

These Games could be the re-birth of the tourism industry, these Games could provide opportunities for hotel operators, for your airlines.

They will obviously provide jobs.

Yes there will be some negative impacts but I think that Prime Minister Abe is a very smart man and I have no doubt that when he put it to the IOC that we postpone the Games for one year, rather than a cancellation, he had in mind a positive economic stimulus that will provide for Tokyo and Japan in what would otherwise be a downturn.

I think there will be a lot of countries and cities around the world wishing for a similar opportunity." 10.

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(SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIRMAN OF COORDINATION COMMISSION FOR TOKYO 2020 GAMES, JOHN COATES, SAYING: (SPEAKING ON MONITOR VIA TELELINK) "As Mr Muto said, these are not matters that are going to happen quickly.

It is quite complicated in reaching an agreement with 43 different venues operators or owners so I couldn't put a finger on when these additional costs could be assessed.

On the IOC side, we do have some imperative, in many cases, to continue to support our International Federations and National Olympic Committees who are not in receipt of any income.

So it is very pressing on our side." STORY: Olympics organisers must reduce costs related to the postponed Tokyo Games by focusing on the "must-haves", IOC Coordination Commission chief John Coates said following a remote meeting with Japanese planners on Thursday (April 16) The International Olympics Committee (IOC) and the Japanese government made the unprecedented decision last month to postpone the Games, scheduled to start in July, until next year because of the worldwide coronavirus crisis.

Olympics organisers must now replan the Games without running up huge additional costs.

In an interview with German newspaper Welt on Sunday (April 12), IOC President Thomas Bach said his organisation faces several hundred million dollars in supplementary costs.

Any changes to venues, hospitality, advertising or the swathe of other aspects that make up an Olympic Games will need to be negotiated.

The Olympic Games in Tokyo were already expected to cost $12.35 billion even before the postponement.

Coates also said that additional costs will be incurred by provisions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was too early to know what these might be.

The Australian struck a more optimistic tone when speaking about the potential positive impact the Games might have on a Japanese economy.

On Thursday, Japan was preparing to widen a state of emergency to the entire nation, beyond just major cities, as it battles the coronavirus outbreak.

There have been 9,000 coronavirus confirmed infections in Japan and nearly 200 deaths nationwide.

(Production: Jack Tarrant)

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