The announcement of the competition schedule for the Tokyo Games next year by the International Olympic Committee is a welcome move indeed. For the first time in its modern journey, the Olympics will be held outside of a leap year, thanks to the global pandemic that has put the entire world in a tizzy.
Obviously the delay comes with a cost. The original budget for Tokyo 2020 was a whopping 12.6 billion US dollars and the deferment is expected to add another $ 3.3 billion to the bill. While the IOC bears only a small part of the expenses, the games organising committee, local government and city administration share the bulk.
It is no small achievement that Tokyo 2020 organising committee has managed to retain the Olympic programme unchanged for next year. It means that all venues were re-booked for the fresh dates, previous bookings having been ditched or bought out, so to say. Plus the entire staff must be retained for an extra 12 months raising the wages bill alone by several million dollars.
Athletes' accommodation still presents a tough challenge for the organisers as most of the units had already been sold off as luxury bay-side apartments.
And yet despite the announcement of a virtually unchanged schedule for 2021, there is no certainty whether the Games will be held at all, given the current scenario of travel restrictions and growing infection numbers each passing day.
So the additional $ 3.3 billion that the delay is expected to cost has, with good reason, left the organising committee and sponsors a bit worried. The amount works out close to half of Tokyo city's annual revenue.
If a developed nation like Japan finds hosting the Olympic Games an expensive proposition, what chance does the rest of the world have?
Since its launch in 1896, the Olympic Games have quite expectedly grown by leaps and bounds. The pomp and grandeur associated with each edition leaves the host city / country with a hefty bill that organising committees are finding increasingly tough to clear.
Though infrastructure creation is one of the biggest hurdles given the vast array of unique requirements for each sporting discipline, there appears no way the IOC could apply the brakes on the scale of competition. And with newer disciplines crying out for inclusion, the quadrennial jamboree can hardly be hoped to shrink.
Its a conundrum that IOC must address before it finds itself running out of options for host cities. Television remains one of the primary source of revenue and already the IOC has split the rights into several platforms, including digital media, to maximise the scope. But that can stretch only so much.
Perhaps, Tokyo 2020 would be a lesson in toning things down a bit, like keeping the opening and closing ceremonies simple.
With just under a year to go for the revised Tokyo Games to take off, it remains to be seen if the organising committee manages to balance its books. If not, Olympics could just become a behemoth with few takers!
Obviously the delay comes with a cost. The original budget for Tokyo 2020 was a whopping 12.6 billion US dollars and the deferment is expected to add another $ 3.3 billion to the bill. While the IOC bears only a small part of the expenses, the games organising committee, local government and city administration share the bulk.
It is no small achievement that Tokyo 2020 organising committee has managed to retain the Olympic programme unchanged for next year. It means that all venues were re-booked for the fresh dates, previous bookings having been ditched or bought out, so to say. Plus the entire staff must be retained for an extra 12 months raising the wages bill alone by several million dollars.
Athletes' accommodation still presents a tough challenge for the organisers as most of the units had already been sold off as luxury bay-side apartments.
And yet despite the announcement of a virtually unchanged schedule for 2021, there is no certainty whether the Games will be held at all, given the current scenario of travel restrictions and growing infection numbers each passing day.
So the additional $ 3.3 billion that the delay is expected to cost has, with good reason, left the organising committee and sponsors a bit worried. The amount works out close to half of Tokyo city's annual revenue.
If a developed nation like Japan finds hosting the Olympic Games an expensive proposition, what chance does the rest of the world have?
Since its launch in 1896, the Olympic Games have quite expectedly grown by leaps and bounds. The pomp and grandeur associated with each edition leaves the host city / country with a hefty bill that organising committees are finding increasingly tough to clear.
Though infrastructure creation is one of the biggest hurdles given the vast array of unique requirements for each sporting discipline, there appears no way the IOC could apply the brakes on the scale of competition. And with newer disciplines crying out for inclusion, the quadrennial jamboree can hardly be hoped to shrink.
Its a conundrum that IOC must address before it finds itself running out of options for host cities. Television remains one of the primary source of revenue and already the IOC has split the rights into several platforms, including digital media, to maximise the scope. But that can stretch only so much.
Perhaps, Tokyo 2020 would be a lesson in toning things down a bit, like keeping the opening and closing ceremonies simple.
With just under a year to go for the revised Tokyo Games to take off, it remains to be seen if the organising committee manages to balance its books. If not, Olympics could just become a behemoth with few takers!
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