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Olympic organisers unveil scaled-back pandemic Games plan
TOKYO, Sept 25, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Athlete welcome ceremonies will be
scrapped and flashy spectacles axed at a scaled-back Tokyo 2020 Games,
organisers said Friday, but a senior Olympic official insisted the event “has
to happen”.
Fewer free tickets and savings on banners, mascots and fireworks are among
more than 50 cost-cutting measures agreed by organisers and Olympic
officials, less than a year before the virus-postponed event begins.
Despite the complications and extra costs of the delay, and continued
uncertainty about how the massive international event can be held safely,
International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates said cancellation
was not an option.
“It would have been very easy for you to say ‘this isn’t possible’,” he
said via videolink after a meeting of organisers and Olympic officials in
Tokyo and elsewhere.
“But I think we all share the view that this has to be possible, this has
to happen, because we cannot disregard a generation of Olympic athletes.”
Documents released by organisers painted a picture of a less-than-opulent
event, with the size of behind-the-scenes delegations reduced by 10 to 15
percent, and perks cut back. The number of athletes will not be reduced,
organisers pledged.
But officials, press and others involved with the Games will be given
fewer complimentary tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies — with
changes to the usually dazzling contents of the events themselves under
review.
“What was initially proposed (for the ceremonies) has been drastically
changing,” acknowledged Yoshiro Mori, president of the Tokyo organising
committee.
“Maybe it will end up a bit more modest and simple, but I hope it will be
something that gives joy,” he added.
– ‘Tokyo Model’ –
The 2020 Games were postponed earlier this year as the deadly new
coronavirus spread around the globe, and are now set to open on July 23,
2021.
The latest budget is for $12.6 billion — with costs set to balloon
further as venues and transport must be re-booked, and staff retained for an
extra year.
Other cost-cutting plans include giving athletes less time to train at
venues, and consolidating security points, raising the possibility of longer
queues for bag-checks.
Presentation ceremonies to introduce each sport should be produced in
“bare-minimum quality and quantity”, the documents said.
And welcoming ceremonies held for Olympic and Paralympic teams will be
scrapped altogether.
Coates described the plans as a blueprint for “a new Games, fit for a
post-corona world” that could be used in future.
“We’re going to leave an important legacy which we’re calling the Tokyo
Model,” he added.
There are signs that public enthusiasm in Japan is waning for the
Olympics, however, after a recent poll found just one in four want them to go
ahead next year, with most backing either another postponement or a
cancellation.
Organisers and local officials are engaged in complex discussions about
how to safely hold the Games if the pandemic is not under control.
Coates said measures including regular testing and mandatory vaccination –
– if a vaccine is available — were among the possibilities.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1925HRS