#Delaying Tokyo Olympics will cost up to $2.8 billion

Postponing the Tokyo Olympics to next year because of the coronavirus pandemic will cost organizers and Japanese officials up to $2.8 billion, figures released Friday show.

The Tokyo Organizing Committee revealed the staggering estimate after spending months examining the financial impact of the unprecedented March decision to delay the summer games, which are slated to open on July 23, 2021.

Tokyo’s metropolitan government and Japan’s national government will pick up about 65 percent of the tab, while the rest will be covered by the privately funded organizing committee.

The extra operational costs stemming from the delay add up to 171 billion Japanese yen, or about $1.6 billion. Tokyo officials and the organizing committee will each cover a roughly equal share of that bill totaling about $1.5 billion, with Japan’s government picking up the rest.

The organizing committee said it could add a roughly $260 million contingency fund to help cover extra costs that come up.

Organizers also plan to implement coronavirus safety measures that will cost 96 billion yen, or roughly $923 million, which will be paid for entirely by the governments.

The Tokyo games are expected to be the most expensive summer Olympics on record, according to a recent University of Oxford study. The estimated budget before the delay was $12.6 billion — far larger than the $7.3 billion put forward in Tokyo’s bid to host the games — with public funds expected to cover all but $5.6 billion of that.

The organizing committee said it will continue working with Japanese officials, the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee “to prepare for a safe and secure games while aiming at all possible optimization and streamlining measures to reduce cost.”

The IOC has said it would contribute $650 million to help cover the postponement costs and has also agreed to waive extra royalties accrued by sponsorship deals that the organizing committee secures.

IOC president Thomas Bach “expressed his strong determination that the IOC and us should work as one team and cooperate to ensure the success of the games,” Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori said.

With Post wires