Tokyo Olimpics to recieve 800 million US dollars to address current crisis

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will cover costs of up to 800 million U.S. dollars incurred due to the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, IOC president Thomas Bach said at a teleconference on Thursday.

The teleconference came after the IOC’s first-ever full remote meeting, which approved a financial envelope of 800 million dollars.

“We anticipate that we will have to bear costs of up to 800 million U.S. dollars for our part of the responsibility for the organization of the Games,” Bach said.

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According to Bach, 650 million dollars will go towards the organization of the postponed Tokyo Games, and an aid package of up to 150 million dollars will be provided for the Olympic Movement, including international federations, National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and IOC-recognized organisations.

The meeting also revealed that the 136th IOC session, originally scheduled to be held before the Tokyo Olympic Games’ opening ceremony this year, will instead be held virtually on July 17 and be broadcast live to the public.

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Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said here on Friday that the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics will provide a “unique” opportunity for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Wei Jizhong, former Secretary-General of the Chinese Olympic Committee, was worried that the delay will affect the marketing prospects of the Beijing Winter Olympics because there are only six months between the two showpiece events.

Muto told reporters in an online briefing, “The Beijing Winter Games are going along very nicely. There might be some impact felt from the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games.

“But there will a higher level of media attention after the Tokyo Games. I think that might provide some unique opportunities.”

Source: Xinhua