2024-07-16 09:24:03
“We already know that we will have to bear several hundred million dollars in costs due to the postponement,” the German explained in a letter addressed to the Olympic movement.
“That is why,” he continued, “it is also necessary to examine and review all the services we provide for these postponed Games.”
The IOC “will continue to bear its share of the operational burden and its share of the costs for these postponed Games, according to the terms of the existing contract for 2020 that we have concluded with our Japanese partners and friends,” he assured.
The IOC, which has around $1 billion (€926 million) in reserves to deal with a possible cancellation of the Olympic Games, took the historic decision at the end of March to postpone the Games, which were initially due to open on July 24, 2020.
The Tokyo Olympics are now scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021. But if the coronavirus pandemic is not brought under control within a year, the Games cannot be postponed again and will therefore be canceled, the head of the organizing committee (Cojo) Yoshiro Mori warned on Tuesday.
The working group, which brings together the IOC and various partners, including the OCOG, has established “the priorities and management strategies to ensure the feasibility and success of these postponed Olympic Games,” added Thomas Bach.
These priorities include “first and foremost the creation of a safe environment in terms of health for all participants,” he added, specifying that the IOC continues to rely “on the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO) concerning possible adaptations to be made to the organization of mass gatherings.”
While “no one knows what the realities of the post-coronavirus world will look like,” Bach also announced that the IOC, which employs around 600 people, “is reviewing (its) budget and (its) priorities.”
2024-07-16 09:24:03