Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday that he had not made any promises regarding Japan's readiness to pay the costs associated with the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics for a year
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th April, 2020) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday that he had not made any promises regarding Japan's readiness to pay the costs associated with the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics for a year.
"My promise that Japan will take [extra costs] is absolutely not true," Abe said at a parliamentary meeting.
In late March, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Organizing Committee announced the new dates for the Summer Olympics and Paralympics postponed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Olympic Games will take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021, and the Paralympic Games from August 24 to September 5, 2021.
Shortly after, the IOC said, citing Abe, that Japan would continue to cover the costs prescribed by the terms of the existing agreement for 2020 jointly with the IOC, referring to several hundred millions of Dollars of additional costs.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga later said that Japan had not agreed to take on the additional costs due to the postponement of the Olympics.
On April 21, the IOC removed a comment from its website that referred to Abe when discussing the financial impact of postponing the Olympics following a relevant request of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee.
The new version of the IOC statement says that the Japanese government has confirmed its readiness to fulfill its responsibility for hosting s successful Olympics event. The IOC and the Japanese side will jointly discuss the consequences of postponing the Olympics.
