IOC Approves Tokyo 2020 Football Venues

(ATR) Seven stadiums will host football matches at the 2020 Games after the IOC today rubberstamped their inclusion in the venues plan.

Football fixtures will be played at the Sapporo Dome, Miyagi Stadium, Ibaraki Kashima Stadium, Saitama Stadium, Tokyo Stadium and the International Stadium Yokohama, as well as in the main Olympic venue in the Japanese capital.

The IOC also approved accommodation plans for each Olympic stakeholder group at its executive board meeting in Lausanne on Wednesday. Tokyo 2020 said it will now start to communicate the plans to each of the client groups, and begin the allocation of rooms.

The IOC’s football decision marks a Tokyo 2020 milestone, finalizing the package of venues for the Olympics and Paralympics.

"I am very happy that, with us having submitted our proposals for all football venues as a single request, we received approval for all of them today, which means the venues for all of the sports in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 have now been decided," said Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori.

A total of 43 venues, including 25 existing, 10 temporary and eight new permanent venues will be used at the Olympics and Paralympics.

The overall venues plan was scaled back after concerns expressed by the IOC and following several cost-benefit analyses conducted by the Olympic governing body, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, international federations and other stakeholders. This led to plans for the construction of three new permanent venues being scrapped – the percentage of venues utilizing existing facilities has risen from around 40 to almost 60 percent, with reported cost savings of more than $1.8 billion.

The increased use of existing venues forms part of the IOC’s new package of reforms bearing the ‘New Norm’ slogan designed to cut costs, which was announced in February.

Tokyo 2020 said it had embraced this as part of efforts to create a sustainable legacy for future generations.

"The Olympic Stadium and other permanent venues are destined to become community facilities that will enhance the quality of urban life after the Games, especially in the area of sport," said a release.

Tokyo 2020 also reiterated on Wednesday how the spread of venues will allow the Olympics to touch more people around the country.

About 40 percent of the venues are situated outside Tokyo, with football and baseball matches, being hosted in Ibaraki, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, which were among the areas worst affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

"By involving more communities outside Tokyo in the hosting of events, Tokyo 2020 aims to bring the excitement of the Olympics and Paralympic Games to more people across the country, seeing this as a potential model for future host cities," said Tokyo 2020.

Mori added: "We will cooperate with neighboring and regional municipalities in the use of their facilities, and will host the Games together. We believe that these Games will prove to be a model for a sustainable Games while delivering the excitement of the Games to more people."

Reported by Mark Bissonin Lausanne.

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