Tokyo -
The Tokyo Olympics scheduled for this summer, but cast into doubt by rumors of possible cancellation, are set to become the most expensive in history with a cost of 15.4 billion dollars, 20% higher due to the pandemic delay and the expense of anti-Covid measures.
The Tokyo Olympics, whose continuity was in question according to information published by the British newspaper The Times and later denied by the organizers, will cost at least 15.4 billion dollars.
This is indicated by the latest budget version announced by the organizers in late December, after including expenses related to holding the event one year later than initially planned and the measures to prevent contagion among athletes and the public.
The figure is 21% higher than the previous estimate, and more than double the amount initially estimated by Tokyo when it won the bid to host the Games in 2013.
Unprecedented cost
The final budget, which can still increase in the coming months, will probably exceed that of London 2012, 14.95 billion dollars, as well as the official cost of Beijing 2008, estimated at around 15 billion dollars by the organizing committee, although other calculations put it above that figure.
The additional 2.8 billion dollars budgeted for Tokyo 2020 will mainly go towards renegotiating contracts for the use of sports venues on the new dates and labor costs, as well as a wide range of measures to prevent contagion that are yet to be defined.
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Faced with this growing bill, the IOC asked the hosts to "simplify the Games" as much as possible, to which the organizers responded by cutting costs that mainly affect participating delegations and other expenses considered superfluous, but not athletes or competitions.
But this adjustment only allowed to save about 280 million dollars, so the organizers have had to raise a considerable amount of money from different sources, mainly from public funds.
The central Government of Japan and the Tokyo government will contribute about 1.7 billion dollars to cover the extra cost, while the remaining 1.1 billion dollars will come from a private fund from the organizing committee and an additional contribution from domestic sponsors.
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A total of 68 Japanese companies have committed to extending their sponsorship contracts until the new dates of the Games, thus increasing their financial support by an additional 210 million dollars, according to the figures provided by the organizers.
This raises the total amount contributed by Japanese companies to about 3.57 billion dollars, which represents approximately a quarter of the total budget for the Games and is also an unprecedented amount.
This figure triples the contributions made by domestic sponsors in the Beijing and London Games.
Behind this colossal effort are companies such as Asahi Beverages, Canon, Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, Meiji, Asics, and financial corporations such as SMCB, Mizuho, and Nomura.
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The additional support is especially significant in a year of "lean times" for many domestic sponsors due to the profound economic impact of the pandemic.
"This level of cooperation from companies across the country is extremely encouraging," said Yoshiro Mori, president of the organizing committee, when announcing the extension of the contracts, adding that "thanks to this support, the hosts have been able to continue with the preparations" despite the many difficulties they have faced.
In any case, the majority of the money will come from the pockets of Japanese taxpayers, which is one of the main reasons why popular support for the Games has declined in recent months, along with the fear that the event could cause further spread of the coronavirus in Japan. (D)