Tokyo Games postponement to cost USD 2.8 billion - organisers

The extra costs will be shared by the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Japanese government.

The Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to be held in July-August, 2021. - AP

The postponement of the Tokyo Games until next year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic will cost Japanese organisers an additional JPY 294 billion (USD 2.8 billion), the organising committee said on Friday.

Organisers have been assessing the financial impact of the delay since the Japanese government and International Olympic Commmittee decided in March to postpone the Games until 2021.

Tokyo metropolitan government is expected to pay JPY 120 billion, the organising committee JPY 103 billion and the Japanese government JPY 71 billion, organisers said.

The IOC has previously said it will contribute USD 650 million to covering postponement costs. This is separate from the costs announced by Japanese organisers on Friday.

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said that Tokyo 2020's share of the costs would come from a contingency fund detailed in last year’s budget, additional sponsorship and insurance.

The last official budget given by the organising committee in December 2019, months before the Games were postponed, was USD 12.6 billion.

Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori added that the IOC had agreed to waive any additional royalties accrued by new sponsorship deals secured by the organising committee.