Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee President Yoshiro Mori has formally apologized to the IOC "after plans for the city's new Olympic stadium were scrapped earlier this month over ballooning costs," according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS.
Mori, who presented a progress report to the IOC Exec Board on Wednesday, said that the Olympic body "had accepted Japan's review of stadium plans and offered its support as organizers now face a race against time to get it ready for the Games." Mori:
"I extended my sincere apologies that we had to change the plan. (IOC) President Thomas Bach gave us his support and confidence."
Costs for the New National Stadium, "set to be the centerpiece of the Games," soared to $2.1B. The decision also meant that key matches at the 2019 Rugby World Cup "are without a home, damaging Japan's reputation for organizational prowess, especially in the sporting world."
The IOC said that "it would now be part of the new stadium tender to help monitor its progress." Bach:
"We have made it very clear here that we want to be involved in the tender" (REUTERS, 7/29).
