Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee President Yoshiro Mori said that 80% of the facilities needed for next year's postponed Olympics "have been lined up," according to Stephen Wade of the AP. But two of the largest venues "have not yet been secured," as organizers are "still working to secure the 5,000-apartment Athletes Village and the Tokyo Big Sight, a hulking convention center on Tokyo Bay that will be used as the main press center." Organizers have said that they are "optimistic but work remains." Organizers have spoken for weeks about "'simplifying' next year's Olympics to save money because of the delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic." But neither Mori nor Tokyo Organizing Committee CEO Toshiro Muto "offered details on Friday, and nothing on what the delay will cost and who will pay." Muto has mentioned "'200' targets for downsizing, but offered no names." The cost of the delay in Japan is estimated at $2-6B, with Japanese taxpayers "picking up most of the bills." Meanwhile, Wade notes other unknowns remain, "Will fans be allowed, will tickets be refunded, will there be a vaccine, and will 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes face quarantines?" Organizers said that it "could be many months before the complete outline of the Olympics is clear" (AP, 6/12).
