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Tokyo gov't mulls reconsidering Olympic venue plans following report on soaring costs

Xinhua, September 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Tokyo metropolitan government is to reconsider the construction of three venues for the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics after receiving a report from a review panel on Thursday that showed costs for organizing the games might exceed 3 trillion yen (29.47 billion U.S. dollars).

The panel was set up by newly-elected Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike last month to assess the costs of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, in an effort to fulfill her campaign promise to keep the costs for Tokyo residents "at an appropriate level."

The panel report suggested that with costs possibly exceeding 3 trillion yen, plans for the swimming, volleyball and rowing/canoe sprint venues should be reconsidered, with not building the venues and using existing venues instead as an option.

Yoshiro Mori, president of the 2020 organizing committee, reportedly responded to the panel's suggestion by saying that it would be difficult to make any changes to the current plans.

Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda echoed Mori's concerns and said that it would take a lot of work to restart discussions with international federations and the IOC if the venue plans are to be changed.

Koike is expected to draw a conclusion from the report within a month, according to local reports. Endit