Can Tokyo cancel the Olympics?
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Singapore: Two key paragraphs in the Olympic contract give the International Olympic Committee extraordinary power over a sovereign government.
They can be found on page 72 and 73 under the subheading “termination”. Between them, they are worth billions of dollars, the most expensive insurance bill in history and potentially, the price of a country’s health for an Olympic Games.
There are less than three months until the Tokyo Olympics.
Credit:AP
They state that the IOC shall be able to terminate the contract if the host country is at any time in a state of war, civil disorder or belligerence. Further, they add that if the IOC decides to terminate the contract - the host city waives any right to damages. Nowhere within the 81-page contract does the host city or national government have the right to cancel the biggest event
By WANG XU in Tokyo | China Daily | Updated: 2020-12-31 09:43 Share CLOSE Tokyo commuters, such as these subway riders on Nov 30, are never far from reminders that their city is hosting the Olympics. PHILIP FONG/AFP
On New Year s Day this year, 58,000 people watched a football game in Japan s just finished $1.4 billion National Stadium.
The game was so-so, but the setting was stunning. It was a test run for the opening of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
Everything seemed on course.
The test was largely flawless and the countdown to the July 24 opening ceremony looked like a surefire success. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the host of the Games, had earlier estimated that from winning the bid in 2013 to a decade after the games in 2030, the events would give a $294 billion boost to the national economy.
Tokyo Olympics Q&A: Costs, IOC, COVID-19, and vaccinations
by Stephen Wade, The Associated Press
Posted Dec 18, 2020 11:20 pm EDT
Last Updated Dec 18, 2020 at 11:26 pm EDT
FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2020, file photo, a man and a woman look at the Olympic rings float in the water in the Odaiba section in Tokyo. Tokyo Olympic organizers are expected to unveil their fifth annual budget before Christmas. It is expected to show the rising costs of the postponed Games. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
TOKYO Much of the focus on the Tokyo Olympics has been on the unprecedented postponement because of the pandemic, and how the Olympics can be held in seven months.
Explained: Tokyo Olympics Costs, IOC, Covid-19, and vaccinations
Official costs this time are sure to increase by at least $2.8 billion. This is the cost organizers reported earlier this month for the one-year delay. Domestic sponsors are being asked to pay more to make up the shortfall. But most of the burden simply falls on Japanese government entities. Updated: December 20, 2020 2:15:15 pm
In this Dec. 1, 2020, file photo, a man and a woman look at the Olympic rings float in the water in the Odaiba section in Tokyo.(AP)
Much of the focus on the Tokyo Olympics has been on the unprecedented postponement because of the pandemic, and how the Olympics can be held in seven months.
Stephen Wade
FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2020, file photo, a man and a woman look at the Olympic rings float in the water in the Odaiba section in Tokyo. Tokyo Olympic organizers are expected to unveil their fifth annual budget before Christmas. It is expected to show the rising costs of the postponed Games. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File) December 18, 2020 - 9:25 PM
TOKYO - Much of the focus on the Tokyo Olympics has been on the unprecedented postponement because of the pandemic, and how the Olympics can be held in seven months.
The focus leading up to Christmas falls on the budget and the increasing costs that are being shouldered by Japan. Tokyo organizing committee officials are expected to announce updated figures this week.