(ATR) Tokyo 2020 chief Yoshiro Mori met with Olympic officials Thursday in a bid to hammer out a solution to the gaffe that left the cauldron off the new national stadium design.
After talks with Tokyo governor Yoichi Masuzoe, Olympic minister Toshiaki Endo and other officials, a decision was taken to set up a task force to come up with a cauldron plan by the end of April.
The "working team" headed by Endo will arrange where the cauldron should be placed on the stadium.
"We have to review each role to control and have responsibility," Mori told a press conference in the Japanese capital. "The cauldron is a part of the national stadium. It is not Tokyo 2020’s responsibility."
The Japan Sports Council (JSC), which is overseeing the stadium construction project, chose the revamped design of the national stadium in December but failed to include the cauldron in the proposal.
In keeping with an IOC directive, the JSC said the design of the stadium would not be changed to accommodate the cauldron. The cost and the construction timetable would also not be altered, reporters were told.
Takakuni Ikeda, a director of Japan Sports Council, said the organisation would "pull its weight" to deliver a suitable cauldron for the 2020 Olympic stadium.
Last week, Mori blamed Japanese sports minister Hiroshi Hase for the cauldron gaffe, the latest in a string of controversies to hit the organization of the Olympics. The original stadium plan was axed last summer amid ballooning costs, while a plagiarized logo was dropped a few months ago.
The IOC has given Mori permission to use the cauldron of the Tokyo 1964 Olympics, which currently resides in the Miyagi Prefecture.
There was more good news on the Tokyo Olympic revenues front on Thursday.
The organising committee announced sponsorships with three travel companies - KNT-CT Holdings, JTB and Tobu Top Tours - who become Tokyo 2020 second-tier partners.The newly-signed trio brings the total number of domestic sponsorships to 32.
Reported in Tokyo by Hironori Hashimoto, and Mark Bisson
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