(ATR) The Tokyo metropolitan government has canceled plans to build new Olympic badminton, basketball and sailing venues.
On Wednesday, the special committee in charge of the 2020 Olympics met to discuss new proposals for the Games which will shave $1.7 billion from the city’s construction budget, according to a report in Japan’s Jiji Press agency.
Both venues’ future had been questioned, most notably the basketball venue which appears to be on the verge of moving to Saitama, a town outside of Tokyo.
On Wednesday, following the IOC Project Review, John Coates, chairman of the IOC Tokyo 2020 Coordination Commission, said preliminary basketball matches could take place in Osaka, some 400 kilometers from Tokyo.Badminton and sailing will take place at existing venues within Tokyo.
The committee reviewed plans for 10 venues for several sports including archery, canoe/kayak, field hockey, modern pentathlon, rowing, swimming, taekwondo and tennis.
"The revision of our venue plans is being made to further enhancing the overall quality of the 2020 Games," said a Tokyo 2020 spokesman. "This is being conducted with a view to ensuring the Games plan to be as sustainable as possible with a spirit of Olympic Agenda 2020 in our mind. We will keep our discussions together with the IOC and IFs to look at alternative venues/sites based on the outcome of the Olympic Agenda 2020 to be finalized early next month."
Construction costs for all the reviewed venues had more than doubled from the bidding stage.
"We reviewed our facility plans after the expense swelled due to unexpected additional construction works and surging costs of construction in general," Katsura Enyo, a senior official with the TMG's Olympic planning division, was quoted by AFP.
"We presented the revised plan to the IOC and I think we gained their understanding. What's important is that we build facilities that Tokyoites still find useful after the Olympics are over."
On Wednesday, Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori said the organizing committee will "maintain the policy of compact Olympic Games."
Written by Ed Hula III
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