IOC weighs Tokyo 2020 Olympic venue changes
From left, IOC Executive Director for the Olympic Games Gilbert Felli, IOC Vice President John Coates, Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games President Yoshiro Mori, Chief Executive Officer Toshiro Muto, and Tsunekazu Takeda, a member of the International Olympic Committee and president of Japanese Olympic Committee, join hands to pose for photographers during a press conference after the first coordination commission meeting for the Tokyo 2020 Games, in Tokyo Friday, June 27, 2014. The IOC wrapped up its first coordination commission meeting on Friday, saying any changes to the venue plan should not alter the core principles of the city’s winning bid. Japanese Olympic organizers are reviewing their venue plans because of concerns over costs and have suggested some venues may have to be moved. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
TOKYO— The IOC wrapped up its first coordination commission meeting for the Tokyo 2020 Games on Friday, saying proposed changes to the venue plan are not as drastic as some have suggested.
Cost concerns have prompted Japanese Olympic organizers to review their initial plan of having the majority of venues within an 8-kilometer (5-mile) radius of the Athletes’ Village venue.
The IOC, under new President Thomas Bach, is looking at ways of reducing the costs of hosting future Olympics. Several cities declined to bid or have dropped out of the race for the 2022 Winter Games because of financial concerns.
Tokyo’s centralization plan had been cited as a major factor in winning the 2020 hosting rights.
