The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Tokyo—Japan scrapped the design of the Olympic stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Games because of soaring costs, and said it will reopen bidding for a new plan, in a stunning reversal that leaves the 2019 Rugby World Cup without a main venue.
“We have decided to go back to the start on the Tokyo Olympics-Paralympics stadium plan, and start over from zero,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters after a meeting with Yoshiro Mori, chairman of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee. “The cost has ballooned just too much.”
The government has been under mounting criticism as the estimated cost of the new National Stadium rose to 252 billion yen ($2 billion), nearly twice as much as the initial estimate of 130 billion yen.
Abe said he secured the consent of Mori, a former prime minister, and instructed the sports and Olympics ministers to immediately prepare a process to choose a new stadium plan.
“I have been listening to the voices of the people and the athletes for about a month now, thinking about the possibility of a review,” Abe said. “We will minimize the cost as much as we can and make one that is best and realistic.”
The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee said it respected Abe’s decision, but wants to ensure the construction of the stadium is completed in time for the Games and will not “adversely affect” the event.
The huge cost of the stadium went against the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) “Olympic Agenda 2020” reform program, which seeks to make the games less expensive and ensure long-term use of venues.
John Coates, head of the IOC coordination commission for the Tokyo Games, said the Japanese government was in the position to decide on the project.
“We take note of the decision by Prime Minister Abe to review the design plan and to look for a feasible solution that will offer a state- of- the-art stadium with top- level conditions for athletes and spectators,” Coates said in an IOC statement. “We understand that the review of the stadium will not affect its delivery for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and we will work with the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee to ensure that what is needed for the games is delivered in the revised plan.” AP