Tokyo Postponement Hits IOC With Added Costs In The Nine Figures

The IOC will face “'several hundred million dollars' of added costs because of the postponement of the Tokyo Games," according to Stephen Wade of the AP. IOC President Thomas Bach made the statement in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt. Estimates in Japan put the overall postponement cost at $2-6B, and all costs outside of the IOC's portion "will be borne by the Japanese side according to an agreement signed in 2013 when Tokyo was awarded the Olympics." Bach said that is was "'impossible to say for now' the extent of the added costs for the IOC caused by the coronavirus pandemic." Bach did not directly answer whether there was the "possibility of another postponement." However, he did say Tokyo organizers and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe “made it very clear to me that Japan could not manage a postponement beyond next summer at the latest.” Meanwhile, Bach indicated that he has "not decided if he will run for re-election next year" (AP, 4/13).