Tokyo's
2020 preparations draw praise
;)
April 4, 2014 5:29 AM
(Reuters) - The IOC's Coordination Commission has praised
Tokyo's early preparations for the 2020 Summer Olympics, highlighting the
financial planning and diversity of local organizers after a three-day visit to
the Japanese capital.
Commission chairman John Coates headed the visit, which was
the first working-level talks between the Tokyo organizing committee and the
IOC's coordination body.
"We're very, very impressed and very pleased with the
progress to date, and look forward to working with Tokyo 2020 in what, so far
as I'm concerned, is a partnership," Kyodo news quoted Coates as telling
reporters in Tokyo on Friday.
He described as "realistic and achievable" the
earmarked revenue streams that will be needed to cover the estimated $3.4
billion Games budget.
Coates and other IOC officials toured existing venues and
were taken to sites that have been marked out for new venue construction.
"At this stage I don't see any challenges - what I see
is opportunities in terms of the legacies that can be left in encouraging more
Japanese to participate in sport," Coates said.
The coordination commission will assist Tokyo as it builds
towards the 2020 Games, serving as a link between the IOC and the local
organizing committee.
Coates also commented on local organizers appointing 10
women to the 34 member executive board and called for more work to be done to
bring more diversity in Olympic preparations.
Tokyo pitched a financially solid bid to revamp part of the
city with the slogan 'Discover Tomorrow' and the pledge to create a new
generation of young Olympic fans in the sports-mad nation.
However, Tokyo 2020 president Yoshi Mori had to fend off
suggestions earlier this year that organizers were a Japanese-only-speaking
ageing male club.
Mori said organizers and the coordination commission were
on the same page.
"Team Coates and Team Mori are on the same vessel for
the next six years, and will continue to row in the direction of 'Sport for
Tomorrow' as advocated by the Japanese government," Mori said.
Coates added
that while discussions did not include the possibility of baseball and softball
being brought back to the Olympic program for the Tokyo Olympics, he said the
issue was "on the table" and a decision should be made by the IOC's
extraordinary session in December.
(Writing by Peter Rutherford in Seoul; Editing by John
O'Brien)