Tokyo Olympics cost 20% more than what the organizers announced
Tokyo Olympics cost 20% more than what the organizers announced; Last year’s Tokyo Olympics, postponed by one year due to the COVID pandemic, cost 20% more than the final amount reported by the organizing committee, according to an analysis by Japan’s audit board.
A late Wednesday report found that the Games cost was 1.7 trillion yen ($12.9 billion), while the organizing committee had announced 1.42 trillion yen earlier this year.
The audit board said organizers had wrongly failed to include some Olympic-related government spending on items including anti-doping measures, training of Japanese athletes, and food in the athletes’ village and Olympic Stadium.
In its future report, the Council urged the Government “to disclose the total costs promptly when they are intrinsically engaged in a major event”.
Japan’s 2013 nomination to host the Games estimated that the event would cost only 734 billion yen, but costs were gradually inflated, with postponement costs due to the pandemic added to the bill.
In response to a question about the costs Thursday, government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that “the government takes the points raised seriously and will respond appropriately”, without providing any details.
The Games were held a year later than planned due to the COVID pandemic, and were the first postponed in peacetime, without a public presence under strict measures to curb the spread of the pandemic.
Japanese prosecutors are currently investigating a series of allegations of bid-rigging associated with sponsorship deals at the Tokyo Games.
NHK said that a former executive of a large clothing company appeared in court on Thursday over the alleged bribery of an official of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, and admitted to providing funds to secure his company’s sponsorship rights.
The corruption scandal has cast a shadow over the northern city of Sapporo, which has stopped promoting the hosting of the 2030 Winter Olympics, and will conduct a nationwide survey to gauge its support.