IOC's Coates stresses cost cuts during Tokyo visit

The Olympics can only survive in the future by cutting the number of events, not adding to them with Mickey Mouse events like 3 person basketball, and by using existing or temporary facilities. The urge to build facilities where they already exist is ridiculous, more often than not the rotting stadia stand like Ozymandias' statue; "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

Baseball was ditched from the London Games as most countries don't play and aren't interested, so why bring it back for Rio and Tokyo? Waste of money.

Yubaru, totally I agreed with you. For example, no country wants to take Commonwealth Game now. Olympic game is very expensive to host now also the Olympic was no longer economically variables for host city as well. The Olympic game will host by only rich city in the future if the cost was too high.

Building that stadium was a dumb move.

Colossal waste of money.  IOC is a money pit that benefits themselves more than anyone else.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics President Yoshiro Mori is to be replaced and most of thecrap issued will be resolved.

I hope someone has explained to John Coates that YES can sometimes mean NO here.

Been caught out a couple of times by older member of the family, then someone explained it to me.

@Clippety

Can't argue with that. His campaign was perfect.

Mori was truly a horrible choice to organize these Games, but it's Japan after all -- one big Old Boys' Club. Of course, he blames his own wrongdoings on Koike, same as Ishihara does.

The IOC is rightly worried about costs -- they are literally begging cities to enter bids for future Games because no one wants to do it. Japan is going to suffer hugely from the Games once they are done.

The lapdog mainstream J-media will be echoing sugar-coated numbers they are fed

with how the games will be economically beneficial.

Dango bongToday 11:10 am JST

$12.6 billion to host this two week sporting event?

There is no way the economy will make this much money from the event. No possible way.

The lapdog mainstream J-media will be echoing sugar-coated numbers they are fed

with how the games will be economically beneficial.

Mori....Me want banana

Everyone in earshot....what?

@lucabrasi, not his finest moment no doubt, but it was some time after he'd ran a superb organizing campaign for the 2012 Olympics.

@Clippety

You want to be careful re Seb Coe.

Liliya Shobukhova not ring any bells??

London appointed Lord Sebastian Coe, a man with over 30 years of outstanding experience in athletics & politics. Japan appointed Yoshiro Mori, a man with a lifetime's experience of ineptness & gangland ties. What could possibly go wrong?

"Unity in Diversity" thats about the opposite of the Japanese mindset!?

the IOC adds all sorts of 'new' sports then expects Tokyo to cut costs. Talk about corrupt.

Neither of those blokes is really any advertisement for the Olympics... Sumo, maybe....

$12.6 billion to host this two week sporting event?

There is no way the economy will make this much money from the event. No possible way.

2020 may well be the nail in the coffin of the Olympics! Lets see if any city for 2024 drops out as they get closer to decision time.

Oh & one way to start ""saving"" money is to cut mori loose, save money & speed up decision making processes, your welcome!

The woman's one eye behind Mori says more than the entire article.

She can't believe she is seeing the old goat awake and on his feet!

I never understood all these people jumping up and down in joy when Tokyo was awarded the 2020 games. Any outsider looking in knew that the cost today to host far exceeds any economic benefit. To sad.....

The Olympics is not an invitation to renewal project for the winning city. If the Olympic Games were there (Osaka), the first question should be what facilities can be used again and is there an adequate transportation to move people to those facilities. For example, the tourist is interested in track and rowing competition. What is wrong with using the Osaka facility for rowing and the Tokyo stadium for track and field? The goal has to be to meet the needs for facilities and not for the tourists. Unfortunately, too late for Japan.

All residents of Japan who are excited about the 2020 games should read "Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup" by Andrew Zimbalist (2015). They will realize that they have been tricked.

The actual cost is quite reasonable, but when you add the cost of corruption to the mix, the kickbacks for contracts which must be paid for by increasing the cost of projects, the end cost becomes enormous.

The problem with taxpayer-funded things like hosing the Olympics is that there is no accountability. The politicians who loot and squander billions are not held to account. They simply loot a few billion more yen to buy votes from the taxpayers, and the taxpayers overlook the fact they are being bribed with their own money.

Brilliant

Maybe they could start by having Olympic and FIFA officials return those 'gifts' Japan gave them. That would get money back in the coffers.

the olympics might as well be in the hands of the mafia. Hopelessly corrupt.

And now riddled with "sports" and "events" that only further erode the credibility that used to be there. skateboarding, trick cycling, etc etc. I'll pass - again.

I look at the photo and I can imagine this:

Koike: Hello, Mr Mori.

Mori: Who are you? In fact, who am I? What am I doing here?

The IOC and Tokyo organizers are eager to use the games as a symbol of recovery from the 2011 disaster.

Twilight Zone theme playing here. It is because of the construction redirected to Tokyo for the games that recovery from the disaster is not progressing.

Koike threw a wrench into the plans and now everyone is back-peddling.

Yup. She's the only honest person about this whole debacle. Mori, Abe, Ishihara, should all be in jail for their corruption. They're far more corrupt than S Korea's Park, yet she was removed from office. Those three, along with many others, should be in jail now.

Want to save ¥? Start with cutting events like baseball. All the coaches and stadiums, etc = bloat. Hardly an inclusive sport when you compare it to track & field, etc. Same few teams win every time and most countries don't give a crap about the game. This time Japan wants a shot at another gold so...

The woman's one eye behind Mori says more than the entire article. What a farce this has become!

This is like a giant corrupt fondue of cash and services that everyone wants to dip into.

In the end, the taxpayer pays, as the rich get richer.

When Ishihara's lapdogs (such as Abe) pitched the compact, efficient, and relatively cheap Tokyo 

Everyone who is involved in the bidding process KNEW it was going to cost more than the number given to the IOC when the bids were being considered. Everyone knew Tokyo has a war chest full of cash, and wanted a part of it,and Ishihara was willing to play along.

Koike threw a wrench into the plans and now everyone is back-peddling.

One would think (erroneously, as it turns out) that a city would want to keep costs down by using the stadia etc they already have rather than, oh, tear down a perfectly good stadium and build an expensive new one at almost twice the original cost.

When Ishihara's lapdogs (such as Abe) pitched the compact, efficient, and relatively cheap Tokyo Olympics they said it would "Encourage the people of Fukushima." Now they want to foist a couple of sports at them (at a cost) and all the construction Ishihara's employers (construction companies and their executives) are doing for the Olympics is Delaying Rebuilding Fukushima. So much for encouragement.

Personally, I hope the 2028 Olympics have zero cities competing for the dubious honor of going in to huge debt for 15 days of world name recognition.

So if we appear to be pushing very hard on saving money it is for our own future that we do it, just as much as you want to do it for your taxpayers."

Oh dear Mr. Coates, you just don't understand. The Abe regime is spending something like $82 billion on the Maglev, a white elephant of epic proportions, for his old school chum Yoshiyuki Kasai, boss of JR Tokai. $12 for the global PR of the Games is peanuts and who cares about the future Games?

The Games in Japan is about nothing more than shifting tax money over to the private sector. And a two-week festival of free advertising and Nihon wa Sugoi!!

If baseball and softball games are held in Fukushima, then Tokyo will end up paying the costs! When they moved some of the events out of Tokyo, the governors from the neighboring prefectures, who will benefit from the exposure, the tourists and the press, refused to pay, and in the end Koike said that TOkyo would foot the bill. Now Coates wants games in Fukushima, but that will just add to the costs, all to try and make Abe happy, and give Japan free PR about how great and safe Fukushima is!

The IOC is worried as fewer and fewer locations are going to be willing to take on the costs of preparing for and Olympics with the problems that Tokyo is having here this time.

Yet the IOC itself is to blame for making it such a costly and drawn out drama process.

If the IOC is interested in cutting costs, start by cutting the IOC down to size!