FISA Believes Working Group Will Clarify Tokyo Costs

(ATR) The World Rowing Federation (FISA) tells Around the Rings it believes revised costs for the rowing/canoe venue will come out of the ongoing Tokyo working group.

A four member working group of sport and government officials is in Tokyo to assess the need to revise the Tokyo 2020 venue plan. The working group consists of the IOC, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Japanese national government, and Tokyo 2020 organizing committee. Two days of talks have concluded, and the recommendations from discussions are expected to be shared tomorrow.

Matt Smith, executive director of FISA, told ATR that the IOC has brought along an architect from the federation to Tokyo to serve as an adviser in talks. Smith said neither he nor FISA President Jean-Christophe Rolland is part of the working group.

FISA, like the international federations in aquatics, canoeing, and volleyball, is awaiting the results from the working group. Smith said the group should produce an "understanding of where the figures and how the figures are made up," for the venues in question.

The federation maintains that all the evidence has shown the Sea Forest venue remains the most logical choice for canoeing and rowing at the 2020 Olympics. Smith said that the venue had been in consideration since 2007, when Tokyo first bid for the 2016 Olympics. As part of a review process, FISA visited 10 rowing sites around Japan, including the Nagamura site in Miyagi prefecture that has been put forth as an alternate to the Sea Forest venue.

Smith called the venue suitable from a sporting perspective, but believes the recently convened independent government panel did not take into account the needed scope of an Olympic venue.

"The problem is it is completely out in the bush, with tiny little roads and little villages, and within 30 minutes there is one hotel," Smith said. "The infrastructure for technology is completely lacking for host broadcasting. There is no place to put people that is within 45 minutes of the venue. There is not enough land to host the broadcast compound, the spectator’s area the security clearance area, etc."

Meanwhile, the head of the independent panel commissioned by Governor Yuriko Koike told foreign reporters in Tokyo that the organizing committee is not working in good faith in considering the Miyagi venue.

Shinichi Ueyama, panel chairman, said it was "unfair" that Tokyo 2020 is not considering the venue, and there was no executive figure able to work with both the TMG and Tokyo 2020.

The cost to upgrade the Nagamura site far exceeds what Smith says is the "sporting costs," for the Sea Forest venue. The rowing venue itself will cost around $90 million according to FISA, but there are two major government costs associated with the venue. Japanese media have reported including those expenditures will bring the total cost up to $490 million for the rowing venue.

Smith says the two costs are a bridge connecting the reclaimed land that the venue will be located on, to other pieces of reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay, and the relocation of a garbage treatment facility within Tokyo Bay. He added that FISA understands both of these costs are part of the greater Tokyo development plan, and will be incurred by the TMG whether or not the Sea Forest site is built.

FISA admits the $90 million "sporting costs," price tag is a bit high for a rowing venue, but said that is the price of constructing on Tokyo Bay, where there are additional costs for earthquake protection.

Smith believes the working group must also figure out where the figures produced by the independent panel came from. He said that international federations had worked with the TMG in 2014 when producing an updated venue plan, which is why the sporting world was doubtful of the independent report.

"One of the key pieces here is to work out which set of numbers are realistic and have a basis in detailed analysis, and which are more shock and politically motivated." Smith said. "There is a lot of stuff out there that is being mixed together."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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