Tokyo Project Review Focused on Cost Cutting

(ATR) The IOC heads to the final day of its Tokyo 2020 project review looking to cut costs in the Olympic Village.

Coordination Commission chair John Coates and other IOC leaders are visiting Tokyo from Oct. 3-4 for a project review. Coates told assembled journalists in Tokyo that the aim of the review is to continue to cut costs on the $12 billion proposed combined Olympic budget.

One area that the IOC and Tokyo 2020 organizers continue to seek reductions is in the Olympic Village. The IOC wrote to 28 of the largest National Olympic Committees to seek feedback about the Village, Reuters reported.

Coates referenced an Around the Rings article in his opening remarks, where he discussed the IOC wanting to cut $1 billion from future Summer Games budgets and $500 million from the Winter Games. That would put the organizing committee budget for Tokyo 2020 at $4.5 billion.

"We are putting a number of questions to those national Olympic committees as to how we think we can find savings by reducing, to an acceptable level, the level of service in the Olympic village," Coates said.

"NOCs might receive some financial compensation to give up some beds, they might receive some compensation in return for more transferable accreditations for their support staff, those things."

Coates reportedly did not elaborate on any other of the potential service cuts.

Tokyo 2020 released a new budget this May, which set a target on total spending for the Games at $12 billion. Yoshiro Mori, Tokyo 2020 President, said the talks that led to the reduced budget will provide a framework for the project review talks, as reported by The Japan Times.

"We intend to advance concrete discussions, without falling into abstract argument," Mori said.

Written by Aaron Bauer

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