Japan on Friday announced that it "will reopen bidding for a new plan" to build main stadium for the '20 Tokyo Games "in a stunning reversal that leaves the 2019 Rugby World Cup without a main venue," according to Mari Yamaguchi of the AP. Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe: "I have been listening to the voices of the people and the athletes for about a month now, thinking about the possibility of a review. We will minimize the cost as much as we can and make one that is best and realistic." Yamaguchi noted the "huge cost of the stadium went against" the IOC's Olympic Agenda 2020 reform program, "which seeks to make the games less expensive and ensure long-term use of venues." The "abrupt decision Friday was seen as damage control as the costly stadium was another headache for Abe's government, whose support rating has already fallen over unpopular defense legislation and gaffes by his party members." The leading candidate for an alternate main venue "is the 72,000-seat International Stadium in Yokohama, just south of Tokyo" (AP, 7/18). In N.Y., Jonathan Soble noted the cost for the stadium "ballooned to more than" $2B, which would have made it "by far the most expensive Olympic stadium, and probably the costliest sports venue, in history." The main stadium for the London Games "cost just one-third as much." Abe: "The current plan will go back to being a blank sheet of paper." The 80,000-seat venue would have "been bigger than the main stadiums for the last two Summer Games, in London and Beijing." A costly retractable roof "was seen by many as an extravagance." It "was unclear on Friday" whether architect Zaha Hadid, who designed the original stadium, "would have a role in creating a new design" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/18).
OFFICE POLITICS: In Japan, Reiji Yoshida reported Abe "apparently feared a backlash from angry voters." Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the government will "finish drawing up a new plan for the stadium in fall, and it will include a cap on the total construction cost." The government will set a target below $1.6B (JAPAN TIMES, 7/17). The GUARDIAN's Owen Gibson wrote the stadium was a "key part of the bid that triumphed over Istanbul and Madrid" in '13 to win the right to host the '20 Games (GUARDIAN, 7/17).
