IOC President Thomas Bach said that he accepts that the virus-hit Tokyo Games will have to be canceled if they cannot be held next year
The International Olympic Committee and Tokyo Games organizers have come up with more than 200 ideas to simplify the Summer Olympics next year while reducing the financial impact of the postponement, sources close to the matter said Tuesday.
The local organizing committee will review each item on the list and the IOC's Coordination Commission is expected to make a final proposal at the IOC executive board meeting in September after holding discussions with international sports federations, Kyodo reports. .
The IOC will hold an executive board meeting online on Wednesday and will discuss how to manage the postponement of the games, which was decided in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The IOC is considering rationalizing many aspects of the games, including venues and transportation. It has told the sports federations that it will confirm the venues and the competition schedule by this summer, sources said.
Japan is considering simplifying the format of the Summer Games, including reducing the number of spectators and scaling back the opening and closing ceremonies, government sources said last week. Tokyo hoped the move demonstrated its willingness to be flexible to ensure the games have the best chance of going ahead.
Last week, organizing committee President Yoshiro Mori and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike agreed to simplify the games.
While the Tokyo Games organizing committee has not yet revealed how much extra the postponement will cost, the IOC decided at their previous executive board meeting in May that they will put up to $650 million towards organizing the games in 2021.
IOC President Thomas Bach said in an interview with BBC Sport last month that he accepts that the virus-hit Tokyo Games will have to be canceled if they cannot be held next year.
The Olympics and Paralympics, which were originally scheduled for this summer, were pushed back to the summer of 2021 after athletes and National Olympic Committees voiced fears over the virus, and a number of qualifying events had to be canceled.
