Japanese organisers say 2020 Games delay to cost them $2.8 billion

The postponement of the Tokyo Games until next year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic will cost Japanese organisers an additional 294 billion yen ($2.8 billion), the organising committee said on Friday.

Organisers have been assessing the financial impact of the delay since the Japanese government and International Olympic Committee decided in March to postpone the Games until 2021.

Tokyo metropolitan government is expected to pay 120 billion yen, the organising committee 103 billion yen and the Japanese government 71 billion yen, organisers said.

The IOC have previously said they will contribute $650 million to covering postponement costs. This is separate from the costs announced by Japanese organisers on Friday.

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said that their share of the costs would come from a contingency fund detailed in last year's budget, additional sponsorship and insurance.

The last official budget given by the organising committee in December 2019, months before the Games were postponed, was $12.6 billion.

Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori added that the IOC had agreed to waive any additional royalties accrued by new sponsorship deals secured by the organising committee.

($1 = 103.9200 yen)