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Friday, 29 March 2024

"We don't know how Olympics money will be spent" - Tokyo 2020 CEO

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'We don't know how Olympics money will be spent' - Tokyo 2020 CEO
"We don't know how Olympics money will be spent" - Tokyo 2020 CEO

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto says it's not clear how Olympics money will be spent.

SHOWS: TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - DECEMBER 15, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1.

OLYMPIC RINGS OUTSIDE NATIONAL STADIUM 2.

VARIOUS INTERIORS OF NATIONAL STADIUM TOKYO, JAPAN (MAY 15, 2020) (TOKYO 2020 - ACCESS ALL) 3.

(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO 2020 CEO, TOSHIRO MUTO, SAYING: "As to the breakdown, how this money might be used, I also understand that the IOC has stated it is too soon and too early to tell.

We, in the organising committee ourselves, have no idea about how this money will be spent.

As to why it is $650 million?

I am afraid you will have to ask the IOC." TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - JANUARY 24, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 4.

OLYMPIC RINGS MONUMENT LIGHTING UP IN FRONT OF RAINBOW BRIDGE TO MARK SIX MONTHS TO GO UNTIL TOKYO 2020 GAMES 5.

OLYMPIC RINGS AS FIREWORKS STARTING TOKYO, JAPAN (MAY 15, 2020) (TOKYO 2020 - ACCESS ALL) 6.

(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO 2020 CEO, TOSHIRO MUTO, SAYING: "Because of that, what we have one year from now may not be conventionally the same Olympics and Paralympics that we had come to know.

One of the bigger questions is can we actually hold the Olympic and Paralympic competitions in the same way we have always held them?

Thomas Bach said yesterday that is time for all of us to review what are the essential things for these Games, what are the must-have items?" LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND (FILE - MARCH 3, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 7.

VARIOUS OF IOC PRESIDENT, THOMAS BACH, ARRIVING TO MEETING 8.

BACH SHAKING HANDS AND SITTING DOWN AND GREETING THE DELEGATES STORY: Tokyo 2020 Olympics organisers said on Friday (May 15) that they were not privy to how the International Olympic Committee plans on spending the money they have set aside to cover the costs of the rearranged Games.

The organising committee's CEO Toshiro Muto also added that talks were still underway as to how much the Games postponement would additionally cost Japanese stakeholders.

On Thursday (May 14), IOC President Thomas Bach announced that his organisation expects to bear costs of up to $800 million for its part in the re-organisation of the Games, which were postponed by a year in March due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The IOC said $650 million would go towards the organisation of the Games, to start July 23 next year, and $150 million to support international federations and National Olympic Committees.

At a remote briefing on Friday, Muto said he hadn't seen a breakdown of the IOC's costs and refused to say how much the delayed Games will likely cost the Games organising committee and the Japanese government.

"As to the breakdown, how this money might be used, I also understand that the IOC has stated it is too soon and too early to tell," said Muto.

"We, in the organising committee ourselves, have no idea about how this money will be spent." "As to why it is $650 million?

I am afraid you will have to ask the IOC." The IOC and the Japanese government jointly took the decision in March to postpone the Olympics due to the coronavirus outbreak, the first time in history that the Games have been delayed.

Since then, the new dates have been set but with issues surrounding the availability of venues, athlete safety and a swathe of broadcast and sponsorship contracts to work out, very little else has been decided.

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