The 2020 Tokyo Games were scheduled for July 24- August 9, but after telephone discussions between Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a historic joint decision was taken for the first postponement of an Olympics in peacetime.
The fate of Toky Olympics has left scores of fans with countless questions. Here we uncover it, one at a time.
When will the Olympics be held in 2021?
No dates yet. The International Olympic Committee and Japanese organizers have this as the top priority. They need firm dates to start planning, just as the athletes do to schedule training. John Coates, the Australian member who heads the IOC inspection team for Tokyo, told the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri that the games were likely to be held in July and August. That was also the plan for 2020: July 24-Aug. 9. Organizers have said there are no plans to move the marathons back to Tokyo. They were moved to Sapporo to avoid the summer heat and seem sure to stay there. Moving to spring is possible, but problematic, and Bach has left the door open to this. But the Olympics in the Northern Hemisphere spring would clash with a full schedule of North American sports and European soccer. It would also leave little time for qualifying events.
What about people who have bought tickets? About 7.8 million are available. Demand is Japan is 10 times over supply.
Ticket sales are expected to raise about $1 billion for the local organizers. So this is a giant item. All tickets have a "force majeure" clause, which might get organizers off the hook of paying refunds if the coronavirus is deemed to be "beyond Tokyo 2020's reasonable control." "We don't have a final conclusion about what our policy will be," Tokyo CEO Toshiro Muto said. "As much as possible, we want to make sure that people who have already bought tickets will get special consideration."
What will the postponement cost the organizers?
Estimates suggest between $2-3 billion. Muto said this week: "Additional expenses are going to be quite massive, we assume." Contract language in the Host City Contract strongly favors the IOC, so expect the Japanese taxpayers to foot most of the bill. Local organizers and Japanese government bodies say they are officially spending $12.6 billion to put on the Olympics. However, a national government audit report in December put costs at twice that much. When Tokyo won the Olympic bid in 2013, it said the games would cost $7.3 billion. Private-sector money makes up $5.6 billion of today's total budget. The rest - whatever the grand total - is public money.
Where is the Olympic flame that arrived from Greece on March 12?
It's in Fukushima prefecture, the northeastern region of Japan that was devastated by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and the meltdown of three nuclear reactors. The flame is being stored in a small lantern. The last public display was Wednesday in that prefecture. The original torch relay was to have begun from there this week. It's unclear how long the flame will stay there. It could remain for a year and be the focal point for games next year. Or it could move to Tokyo. Wherever it is, it will be the center of a public-relations campaign linked to the Olympics, Japan's rescheduling, and a hoped-for victory over the coronavirus.
What will happen to the Athletes Village?
The sprawling site on Tokyo Bay - 5,632 apartments - will be sold off after the Olympics. Reports say about one-quarter of the units have already been sold. Some units will cost more than $1 million. One of the developers, Mitsui Fudosan Co., said it has suspended sales at the complex, which will include 23 buildings. It's not clear how this will be worked out. But officials say they plan to use the village and not shift to hotels.
Did the postponement damage the IOC's image?
Yes and no. The IOC has survived numerous scandals, and nearly went under because of the 1980 Moscow boycott. And few recall that Tokyo and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics were both soiled by voting-buying scandals that forced the resignations of their delegation leaders and IOC members: Tsunekazu Takeda in Japan and Carlos Nuzman in Brazil. Bach's flip-flop was there for all to see. At an IOC executive board meeting earlier this month, Bach said neither the word "cancellation" nor "postponement" were ever mentioned. Bach was accused of being "tone deaf" at best.
