Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced yesterday the scrapping of a plan for a controversial national stadium, the centerpiece of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, after skyrocketing costs sparked public outrage.
Anger over the stadium, the estimated cost of which had climbed to US$2.1 billion, almost twice its expected cost when Tokyo won the bid for the Summer Games in 2013, had become a liability for Abe as he pushes unpopular defense bills through parliament.
Support for Abe, who returned to office in 2012 pledging to bolster defenses and reboot the economy, has slipped to about 40 percent on voter doubts over the defense legislation. News about the stadium has fed into that discontent.
Photo: EPA
“We are scrapping our plans for the stadium, and starting from zero,” Abe told reporters after meeting Japanese Minister of Olympics Toshiaki Endo and Japanese Minister of Education Hakubun Shimomura.
Referring to the furor over the cost, Abe said: “The Olympics are a party for our people, and they and the athletes, each one of them, are the main players. We need to make it something that they can celebrate.”
Tokyo won the Olympics on a reputation for getting things done, but immediately ran into problems with costs and a rollback of some promises, such as keeping most sports venues within 8km of the Olympic village.
The stadium, which was designed by British-based architect Zaha Hadid and likened to a bicycle helmet, has been criticized as expensive, grandiose and unsuited to the site, where a stadium built for Tokyo’s 1964 Olympics stood until it was demolished recently.
Abe said that new arrangements would have to be made as soon as possible. A new venue would not be ready in time for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
However, he made no mention of costs and whether this meant another competition for a design, or if another design from a 2012 competition would be used.
Though scaling back stadium plans is not unheard of — it happened for the London 2012 and Sydney 2000 games — changing plans entirely at this stage is unusual.
Officials had previously said changing the design would damage Tokyo’s reputation.
Media reports said the Rugby World Cup would be held in an existing stadium and the government was aiming to keep costs for the new stadium to about ¥180 billion (US$1.45 billion).
The stadium was originally estimated to cost ¥130 billion, but last year estimates rocketed to ¥300 billion. Last month, the government put the cost at ¥252 billion.
Political experts said the stadium decision was aimed at bolstering support hit by the furor over the security legislation, which includes changes that would allow Japanese troops to fight overseas for the first time since World War II.
Tens of thousands of people have protested against the legislation, which was approved by the Japanese parliament’s lower house on Thursday.
“It’s pretty blatant,” said Steven Reed, a political science professor at Chuo University. “It’s a wise play, but whether it will work or not is hard to tell.”
Landing the Olympics added luster to Abe’s administration, but plans quickly bogged down. The demolition of the old stadium was delayed and organizers broke promises to keep most venues close to the Olympic Village.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to