World Rugby officials "are seeking urgent talks with organizers of the 2019 rugby World Cup following Friday's surprise announcement that Japan's proposed new national stadium won't be ready in time for the tournament," according to Julian Linden of REUTERS. The 80,000-seat stadium "was scheduled to host the biggest matches in 2019, including the opening game and the final of the first rugby World Cup awarded to Asia." But those plans "were all thrown out the window" on Friday when Japanese PM Shinzo Abe announced that the original stadium design was being scrapped because of escalating costs. The "shock announcement seemingly caught World Rugby officials by surprise, coming just months after they had publicly announced that the new Tokyo stadium would host the final." World Rugby said in a statement, "World Rugby is extremely disappointed by today's announcement that the new National Stadium will not be ready to host Rugby World Cup 2019 matches despite repeated assurances to contrary from the Japan Rugby 2019 Organising Committee and Japan Sports Council." There "was no announcement from either the Japanese organizers or the
government on whether they will look for an existing stadium in Tokyo or
another city outside the capital to fill the void." The most likely replacement venue for the final is Yokohama's Int'l Stadium, which hosted the 2002 World Cup final between Brazil and Germany (REUTERS, 7/17).
