MOSCOW (TASS) — The International Olympic Committee (IOC) plans to allocate $800 million to compensate for various losses after the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Japan were postponed for one year over the ongoing global spread of the novel coronavirus, the IOC said in a statement.
“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) anticipates that it will have to bear costs of up to $800 million for its part of the responsibilities for the organization of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, its own extended operations and the support for the wider Olympic movement,” the statement reads.
“This number includes the cost for the organization of the postponed Games of up to $650 million for the IOC, and an aid package of up to $150 million for the Olympic Movement, including the International Federations (IFs), the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and the IOC-Recognized Organizations, to enable them to continue their sports, their activities and their support to their athletes,” according to the IOC.
The 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo were scheduled to be held between July 24 and August 9, and the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games were planned to be organized between August 25 and September 6. The IOC and the IPC (the International Paralympic Committee) announced their decision on March 24 to postpone for one year the tournaments in Japan due to the continuous COVID-19 spread.
Yoshiro Mori, the head of the Tokyo-2020 Olympics Local Organizing Committee, announced on March 30 that the Summer Olympic Games in Japan next year will start on July 23 and the Summer Paralympic Games will begin on August 24.
Commenting on the new financial plan of the world’s governing Olympic body IOC President Thomas Bach said: “The Olympic Movement is facing an unprecedented challenge.”
“The IOC has to organize postponed Olympic Games for the first time ever, and has to help its stakeholders come through this global crisis,” the IOC chief was quoted as saying in the statement. “This new situation will need all our solidarity, creativity, determination and flexibility. We shall all need to make sacrifices and compromises.”
“Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. This situation requires every one of us to do our part, and this applies to all of us, including the IOC. With today’s financial plans, we are addressing these needs,” Bach added.
The IOC also stated in its statement that “The 136th International Olympic Committee session will be held virtually on July 17 and live-streamed for all of those who want to follow.”
“The decision was taken this Thursday as the IOC Executive Board (EB) also held its first-ever full remote meeting to respect the measures being implemented to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the statement.
“The next remote EB meetings are scheduled for 10 June, and 15 and 22 July, with the last one to follow up on the results of the IOC Session,” the statement added.
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 4,511,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 302,500 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 1,697,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.
