Tag: Tokyo Olympics

Tokyo Olympics Q&A: Costs, IOC, COVID-19, and vaccinations

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Much of the focus on the Tokyo Olympics has been on the unprecedented postponement because of the pandemic, and how the Olympics can be held in seven months.

The focus leading up to Christmas falls on the budget and the increasing costs that are being shouldered by Japan. Tokyo organizing committee officials are expected to announce updated figures this week.

The official costs published last year at this time was $12.6 billion. However, Japans National Audit Board last year said the costs are much higher than organizers say. Overall spending then was placed at at least $25 billion.

All of this is public money except for $5.6 billion.

Official costs this time are sure to increase by at least $2.8 billion. This is the cost organizers reported earlier this month for the one-year delay. Domestic sponsors are being asked to pay more to make up the shortfall. But most of the burden simply falls on Japanese government entities.

The 2019 budget shows the Switzerland-based IOC contributed about $1.3 billion to fund the Olympics.

Q: Why is it so expensive to hold the Olympics?

A: The University of Oxford has a good study out in September that explains many of the questions. The study points out that every Olympics since 1960 has run over budget by an average of 172%, For instance, Tokyo organizers said the Olympics would cost about $7.3 billion when they were awarded in 2013. The cost now may be closer to $25 billion.

The Oxford study says high costs are driven up by tight deadlines, having a new city organize the Olympics each time, and by the fact that the IOC does not have to absorb the cost of budget overruns. These all fall on local organizers and governments.

Q: We hear a lot about the IOC. What is it exactly?

A: The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit organization based in Switzerland. The IOC, in its latest report, showed it generated 73% of its income from selling broadcast rights. Another 18% is from selling sponsorships. Total income in the last four-year Olympic cycle (2013-16) was $5.7 billion.

The IOC says it redistributes 90% of its income to help stage the Olympics, promote the Olympics, and develop world sports. The IOC president is Thomas Bach. He is listed as a volunteerbut has all of his expenses covered and receives an annual indemnityof $225,000. His Swiss taxes are also paid, amounting to $126,000 according to the latest report.

Q: What is the level of support for the Tokyo Olympics in Japan?

A: The latest poll, published this month by Japanese broadcaster NHK, shows wavering support. In a telephone survey of 1,200, 63% said the Olympics should be postponed or canceled. On the opposite side, 27% said the Games should be held. The poll was conducted on Dec. 11-13.

This is less support that was documented in a a similar poll in October. At that time, 40% favored the Olympics going ahead and 48% said they should be canceled or postponed again.

Local organizers and the International Olympic Committee have said the Games cannot be postponed again and must be held this time or canceled.

Q: What is the COVID-19 situation in Tokyo and Japan?

A: Tokyo reported a one-day record of 822 new cases on Thursday. The day before also set a one-day record. Almost 3,000 deaths in Japan has been attributed to COVID-19, a number that is still low by by many international standards. Japan has a population of 125 million.

More than 300,000 have died from COVID-19 in the United States, which has a population of 330 million.

All COVID-19 numbers in Japan have been climbing since the middle of November.

The first vaccinations in Japan are expected to begin as early as March. The OIympics are to open on July 23, 2021.

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Tokyo 2020 preparing to deliver Games with COVID-19: CEO Muto

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Tokyo Olympics organisers are preparing to host the Games next year even if the global coronavirus pandemic hasn’t eased substantially, organising committee chief executive Toshiro Muto told Reuters on Tuesday.

The Tokyo Olympics had been scheduled to start on Friday but were put back to 2021 because of the pandemic.

Since then, organisers have scrambled to rearrange an event that has been almost a decade in the making whilst trying to ensure next year’s Olympics are safe for athletes, officials and supporters.

Muto said that although organisers hoped the threat posed by the virus could be reduced, nobody knows what the situation will be when the Games start on July 23, 2021. Organisers are assuming coronavirus will remain a major problem.

“It is rather difficult for us to expect that the coronavirus pandemic is contained,” Muto told Reuters. “But if we can deliver the Games in Tokyo with coronavirus, Tokyo can be the role model for the next Olympic Games or other various international events.”

Muto said he hoped Tokyo 2020 could be the benchmark in a post-pandemic world. “By delivering the Games successfully in Tokyo we strongly hope that can create a legacy that is in the history of mankind.”

NEW SPONSORS

The delay to the Games will incur additional costs for organisers.

The International Olympic Committee has already estimated that the postponement will cost them USD 800 million but the Japanese side has been less forthcoming in giving exact figures.

Muto said the final figure wouldn’t be known until December but hoped that bringing on new sponsors, despite the grim economic forecast, would help bridge the gap.

“I know that businesses are in dire circumstances because of coronavirus but still there are companies who are coming forward to say they want to sponsor the Games, which we appreciate very much,” Muto said.

“It is a bright piece of news.”

On Wednesday, Tokyo 2020 announced that Tokyo Skytree, the tallest tower in the world, is joining as a new Games sponsor.

Muto said he hoped all of Tokyo 2020’s current sponsors would extend their contracts until the start of the Games next year, although this will come at a cost.

A poll conducted by Japanese public broadcaster NHK last month found two-thirds of Tokyo 2020’s corporate sponsors were undecided on whether to continue their support.

“We are hoping that there will be additional contributions (from existing sponsors) in terms of sponsorship fee because of the postponement of a year,” Muto said. “We would appreciate a lot if they agree to this.”

Muto did not give the names of any other new sponsors.

SEPTEMBER MEETINGS

The Games were already set to cost more than 1.35 trillion yen before the postponement, and increased spending might further alienate a public already sceptical of an Olympics they once embraced.

A recent poll conducted by Kyodo News found that fewer than one in four favoured holding the Games as scheduled next year.

Muto said meetings would be held starting in September, with members of the Japanese government and the local Tokyo Metropolitan Government on how best to rebuild support for the Games.

“By making a nationwide effort to implement all possible, conceivable measures to battle coronavirus, the people of the world will be able to come to Tokyo with a peace of mind,” he said. “Once we create such an environment, I think people’s opinions will change.”

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2020 Tokyo Olympics delay looms after US joins calls for postponement

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US Olympic organisers joined calls for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, while the International Olympic Committee, according to member Dick Pound, has decided to delay the event, likely for a year.

Major sporting nations Australia and Canada withdrew on Monday as organisers came under mounting pressure to postpone the event for the first time in its 124-year modern history.

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee said it had listened to feedback from athletes and was encouraged by a clearer path towards postponement.

“Our most important conclusion from this broad athlete response is that even if the current significant health concerns could be alleviated by late summer, the enormous disruptions to the training environment, doping controls and qualification process can’t be overcome in a satisfactory manner,” the USOPC said in a statement on Monday.

Pound told Reuters a one-year postponement looked like the best solution. This would mean the games, scheduled for July 24-August 9, are likely to be held in the summer of 2021.

“That’s my conclusion (there will be a postponement),” Pound said in a telephone interview, after Sunday’s IOC statement saying it was stepping up its “scenario planning” for the Tokyo 2020 Games – including a possible postponement.

“From reading IOC-speak in the communique, if you are going to cancel you simply cancel because there are no future plans,” added Pound.

“But if you are going to carry on with the original objective (to stage the games) there is no reason to issue a statement because you have already done that over the past several weeks.”

Japan and the IOC have said calling off the games entirely is not an option. But finding a new date could be complicated as the summer 2021 calendar is already crowded, while 2022 will see the football World Cup and the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Japan’s government is negotiating with the IOC to postpone the games by a year at most, the Sankei newspaper reported on Tuesday, adding that a poll showed about 70 percent of the Japanese think it is appropriate to delay the Olympics.

Pound said a large number of stakeholders from the organising committee, to athletes to broadcasters and sporting federations would all need to be consulted before a plan could be finalised but there were early signs of a willingness to accommodate a 2021 summer games.

World Athletics said on Monday they would be willing to move their 2021 world championships scheduled for August 6-15 in Eugene, Oregon to clear a path for a 2021 Olympics.

“World Athletics has already been in discussion with the Oregon 21 Organising Committee regarding the possibility the Olympic Games may move to next year and they in turn have held discussions with their key stakeholders and have reassured us they will work with all of their partners and stakeholders to ensure that Oregon is able to host the World Athletics Championships on alternative dates should that prove necessary,” athletics’ global governing body said in a statement.

Balance tipping

An Olympics postponement would be a blow for host country Japan, which has pumped in more than $12 billion of investment, and huge sums are also at stake for sponsors and broadcasters.

But a groundswell of concern from athletes – already struggling to train as gyms, stadiums and swimming pools close around the world – appeared to be tipping the balance, along with the cancellation of other major sports events.

More than 350,000 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus worldwide and over 15,000 have died in a pandemic that the World Health Organisation said was accelerating.

The Olympics have never before been delayed, though they were cancelled altogether in 1916, 1940 and 1944 during the two world wars, and major Cold War boycotts disrupted the Moscow and Los Angeles Games in 1980 and 1984 respectively.

“The moment the IOC indicates that it is thinking about other solutions, it has already decided to delay the games,” said French Olympic Committee president Denis Masseglia.

Canada and Australia both bluntly said they would not participate if the games were not put back to 2021 and Britain may have followed suit.

“We are in the midst of a global health crisis that is far more significant than sport,” Canada’s Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee said in a statement.

A raft of other nations and sports bodies piled pressure on the IOC to make a quick decision.

Athletes were sad but broadly supported a delay.

“The right choice was made, but it doesn’t make it any easier,” said Canadian world champion swimmer Maggie MacNeil, who was hoping to make her Olympic debut in Tokyo.

“Sometimes you just need a good hug.”

The tide turns

Japanese authorities seemed to be bowing to the inevitable, despite the losses and logistics headaches it would entail.

“We may have no option but to consider postponing,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was hoping for a boom in tourism and consumer spending, told parliament.

The organising committee is already scaling back the torch relay to avoid crowds, national broadcaster NHK said.

Japanese sponsors, from Toyota Motor Corp to Panasonic Corp, were watching nervously. But Tokyo stocks sensitive to the success of the Olympics surged on Monday, after sharp falls in prior weeks, thanks to expectations of a delay rather than a cancellation.

Ad agency Dentsu Group’s shares jumped 12 percent.

Pound told Reuters the IOC had tried to hold fire in order to be able to present the hosts, sports federations and sponsors with a clear alternative plan.

“Probably what turned the tide in the last couple of days is the curve on the COVID-19 virus. It is getting very, very steep now and this is clearly not something that is going to be under control by June or July and probably not by the end of the year.”

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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Canada pulls out of 2020 Olympic Games as Japan, IOC consider postponement options

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Canada became the first country to boycott the Tokyo Games due to the coronavirus pandemic and Australia told its athletes to prepare for an Olympics next year as Japan and the IOC flagged the prospect of a postponement for the first time.

Opposition to holding the Games in July has risen sharply in the past 48 hours, with several major stakeholders such as U.S. Track and Field and UK Athletics, along with some national Olympic committees, calling for a delay because of the pandemic.

More than 13,000 people have died globally since the coronavirus outbreak began.

On Sunday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it would hold discussions that would include an option of putting back the July 24 start date or even moving the Games by a year or more.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament on Monday postponing the Olympics may become an option if holding the Games in its “complete form” became impossible.

“If that becomes difficult, we may have no option but to consider postponing the Games, given the Olympic principle of putting the health of athletes first,” he said.

Abe also said calling off the Games entirely was not an option, echoing the IOC position in its statement that cancellation “was not on the agenda”.

The organising committee for the Olympics and Paralympics will be holding a news conference in Tokyo at 2.30pm local time (0530 GMT) on Monday.

Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic Committees urgently called on organisers and the World Health Organization (WHO) to postpone the Games for one year.

“We offer them our full support in helping navigate all the complexities that rescheduling the Games will bring,” the committees said in a statement. “While we recognise the inherent complexities around a postponement, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our athletes and the world community.”

While Canada is the first country to say it will not send a delegation to compete in the summer of 2020, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said on Monday its athletes should prepare for a Tokyo Games taking place in 2021.

“The AOC believes our athletes now need to prioritise their own health and of those around them, and to be able to return to the families, in discussion with their National Federations,” the AOC said in a statement.

ALTERNATE SCENARIOS
Canada’s Olympic Committee said it reviewed the IOC’s assessment of the situation and applauded it for recognising the need to consider alternate scenarios for hosting the Games.

On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said it was up to Canadian athletes to decide on going to Tokyo even if the Games went ahead.

Canada’s boycott will add to growing pressure on the IOC to alter the schedule after criticism from a slew of current and former athletes with health concerns.

The U.S. Olympic Committee said it will not be commenting on Sunday about Canada’s decision.

Earlier, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) welcomed the IOC’s statement but said more clarity was needed.

“The progress reflected in today’s IOC update to the global athlete community is an important step in providing clarity, but our athlete community continues to face enormous ambiguity surrounding the 2020 Games in Tokyo,” said USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland and USOPC athletes advisory council chair Han Xiao in a joint statement.

The Olympics have never been postponed or cancelled during peacetime but the IOC’s decision to even consider postponement was met with relief from several major stakeholders, including World Athletics, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and major national Olympic committees.

The last major boycott of the Olympics was when the Soviet bloc stayed away from the 1984 Los Angeles Games, although North Korea and Cuba skipped the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

“As an Olympian, feeling for Team Canada athletes and coaches who have worked so hard…I know these decisions will impact many beyond sport,” tweeted Charmaine Crooks, a five-time Canadian Olympic sprinter and former IOC member. “Health first.”

Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto and Leika Kihara in Tokyo, Additional reporting by Amran Abocar and Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Writing by Steve Keating and Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Lincoln Feast.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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Coronavirus: Japan says Tokyo Olympics may be postponed

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said for the first time on Monday that the Tokyo Olympic Games may need to be postponed if the event cannot be held in its “complete form” due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Sunday after an emergency meeting that it is stepping up its “scenario planning” for the 2020 Games due to start on July 24, including a possible postponement.

Abe said that while cancelling the Games was not an option, a delay was now on the cards if that was the only way to hold the event in its complete form.

“If that becomes difficult, we may have no option but to consider postponing the Games,” he told parliament.

He said he had conveyed his views to Tokyo Games chief Yoshiro Mori on Sunday evening, who then discussed the issue with IOC President Thomas Bach.

Under mounting pressure from athletes, federations and national committees to postpone the Games, the IOC did a partial U-turn on Sunday after long insisting, with Tokyo organisers, that the Games would go ahead as planned.

Tokyo 2020 organisers have started drafting alternative dates for the Olympics, sources have told Reuters.

More than 13,000 people have died globally since the coronavirus outbreak began in China late last year, with the epicentre now in Europe.

As of Sunday morning, Japan had 37 deaths and 1,055 coronavirus cases, excluding those from a cruise ship that was quarantined near Tokyo last month and returnees on chartered flights from China, a tally by public broadcaster NHK showed.

Abe said all travellers from the United States, including Japanese citizens, would be asked to go into quarantine for 14 days after their arrival in Japan.

In the United States, nearly one in three residents has been ordered to stay at home to slow the spread of the flu-like virus as cases nationwide topped 32,000, with more than 415 dead, according to a Reuters tally.

Japan’s foreign ministry has advised citizens to avoid non-essential and non-urgent travel to the United States.

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No ‘ideal’ solution for virus-threatened Tokyo Olympics: IOC

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The International Olympic Committee acknowledged Wednesday there was no “ideal” solution to staging this summer’s Tokyo Olympics as the deadly coronavirus pandemic swept the globe.

“This is an exceptional situation which requires exceptional solutions,” an IOC spokesperson said after criticism from top athletes that they were being forced to take health risks should the July 24-August 9 Games go ahead as scheduled during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The IOC is committed to finding a solution with the least negative impact for the athletes, while protecting the integrity of the competition and the athletes’ health.

“No solution will be ideal in this situation, and this is why we are counting on the responsibility and solidarity of the athletes.”

Earlier Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi and British heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson both voiced concerns after the IOC said it was “fully committed” to running the Games as scheduled from July 24.

“The IOC wants us to keep risking our health, our family’s health and public health to train every day?” Stefanidi tweeted.

“You are putting us in danger right now, today, not in 4 months.”

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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Tokyo governor says cancelling Olympics ‘unthinkable’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Cancelling the 2020 Olympics is “unthinkable” although the classification of the coronavirus as a pandemic will likely have some impact on the Games, the Tokyo city governor said on Thursday.

“It can’t be said that the announcement of a pandemic would have no impact… But I think cancellation is unthinkable,” Yuriko Koike told reporters.

Doubts are increasingly being raised over whether the Olympics can be held as scheduled from July 24 to August 9.

Organisers have insisted the Games will go ahead as planned and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with whom the final decision rests, has said there has not yet been any talk of cancellation or postponement.

The IOC has said it will coordinate closely with the World Health Organization, which has now officially classified the outbreak as a pandemic.

But coronavirus has already taken a huge toll on sport across the globe.

US basketball was the latest sport to be hit, as the NBA said it would suspend play starting on Thursday after a Utah Jazz player preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19.

In Italy, the hardest-hit European country, all sporting events including Serie A have been suspended until April 3.

Arsenal’s game at Manchester City on Wednesday became the first Premier League fixture to be called off due to the outbreak, with the Gunners’ players put in quarantine after coming into contact with the owner of Greek club Olympiakos.

The virus has also hit the UEFA Champions League, with Italian side Atalanta qualifying for the quarter-finals at Valencia on Tuesday in an empty stadium, while Paris Saint-Germain’s win over Borussia Dortmund was also played without spectators.

In tennis, the prestigious ATP and WTA Indian Wells tournament were cancelled as California health officials declared a public health emergency in the area after a confirmed case of the coronavirus.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Japan committed to hosting Olympics on schedule even as virus spreads

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Japan’s Olympics minister said the country is committed to hosting the summer games as planned from July even as the coronavirus outbreak spread to new parts of the country.

“Cancellation or delay of the Games would be unacceptable for the athletes,” Seiko Hashimoto said in parliament on Thursday. “An environment where athletes can feel at ease and focus should be firmly prepared.”

The minister had caused controversy earlier this week by saying the contract for the games “could be interpreted as allowing a postponement” within calendar 2020.

Japan’s western prefecture of Shiga reported its first coronavirus infection on Thursday, a day after the announcement of a first case in the southern prefecture of Miyazaki.

Confirmed coronavirus infections rose to 1,036 nationwide as of Thursday morning, 36 more than the previous day, according to national broadcaster NHK. That was the biggest one-day increase to date, with new cases in locations ranging from Kumamoto prefecture in the southwest to Hokkaido in the north.

Twelve people have died from the disease, according to the health ministry.

The rapid spread of the outbreak has raised questions about whether Tokyo can host the Olympics as scheduled from July 24, with the effects being felt by other sporting events.

On Wednesday, the Japanese Rugby Football Union announced that next month’s Asia Sevens Invitational, which doubles as a test event for rugby sevens at the Tokyo Olympics, has been cancelled due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.

The Tokyo marathon was held this month without the participation of non-elite runners, and with fewer volunteers and spectators.

Hashimoto told the upper house on Thursday that organisers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would continue to work together closely. She reiterated the final decision on holding the games as planned rests with the IOC.

On Wednesday, IOC President Thomas Bach said the words ‘cancellation’ or ‘postponement’ were not mentioned during a two-day meeting focused on preparations for the Games.

Asked what made him so confident the Games would go ahead, Bach said the IOC and 2020 Games organisers were receiving expert information, including from the World Health Organization.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow