Olympic body creates $800 million fund to address coronavirus crisis

Agence France-Presse

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Olympic body creates $800 million fund to address coronavirus crisis

EPA-EFE

‘Nobody knows how the world looks like tomorrow. It's a very incremental planning procedure,’ says International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach

 

LAUSANNE, Switzerland – The International Olympic Committee said Thursday, May 14, it had created a fund of $800 million to tackle the financial hardships created by the coronavirus pandemic which has forced the postponement of this year’s Tokyo Olympics until 2021.

IOC president Thomas Bach, speaking by teleconference after a virtual executive board meeting, said the body had released “an envelope of up to $800 million to address the financial consequences of this COVID-19 crisis.”

“We anticipate that we will have to bear costs of up to $800 million for our part, our responsibilities for the organization of the Games,” the German said.

The envelope has two parts: $650 million (602 million euros) which “refers to the costs for the organization” of the postponed Games for the IOC; and up to $150 million as an aid package for the Olympic movement, in particular international federations, national Olympic committees and IOC-recognized entities.

Bach said the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed almost 300,000 people worldwide, had had “a very severe financial effect on the world, on society, on government and of course also on the Olympic Games, the entire Olympic movement and in particular the IOC.”

“We have been discussing this financial effect, this financial impact today. You can imagine it’s not easy because planning in these days is so difficult because of all the uncertainties you have.

“Nobody knows how the world looks like tomorrow,” Bach said. “It’s a very incremental planning procedure.”

The IOC, which has approximately $1 billion (926 million euros) in reserves, in March took the historic decision to postpone the Games, scheduled to open on July 24, until July 23 to August 8, 2021. It was the first peacetime postponement of the Games.

The postponement affects every aspect of the organization – the Olympic Athletes’ Village, hotels, ticketing, venues and transport, being among the major headaches.

 

No speculation

According to the latest budget, the Games were due to cost $12.6 billion, shared between the organizing committee, the government of Japan and Tokyo city.

Bach had warned last month that the postponement would cost the IOC “several hundred million dollars”, adding that while the body would honor its financial obligations to Tokyo, it would probably have to make cuts.

“This situation requires compromises, requires sacrifices by everybody. Therefore the IOC and the organizing committee are in close contact with this joint task force and we are leaving no stone unturned in this respect to reduce the costs while maintaining the spirit of the Games and the quality, of course, of sports competition and the athletes in particular.

“Everything is being discussed and everything is on the table.”

But Bach was quick to scotch rumors that the postponed Games could be moved to another country depending on how the COVID-19 outbreak plays out.

“We are now working with full engagement on the success of Tokyo 2020 starting on July 23, 2021… To have the Games in a safe environment for all participants in Tokyo next year,” Bach said.

“We are one year and two months away from these postponed Olympic Games. We should not perhaps fuel any speculation on any future developments now.”

The IOC also agreed to hold their next executive board meeting, virtually, on July 17. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!