International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach revealed that the IOC is preparing to spend several hundred million dollars in additional costs due to the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Games, the German newspaper Welt reported Sunday.

Bach stated it was "impossible to say" exactly how much the one-year postponement will add to the already excessive costs Tokyo is facing but said the IOC will handle its share of the financial burden as discussed with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before the delay was announced last month.

"We agreed with the prime minister that Japan will continue to cover the costs it would have done under the terms of the existing agreement for 2020, and the IOC will continue to be responsible for its share of the costs," Bach told Welt.

"For us, the IOC, it is already clear that we shall be faced with several hundred million dollars of additional costs."

Bach also clarified that "cancellation was not really an option for anyone involved in the decision," and that it was "not a decision the IOC could take on its own."

"The IOC's insurance would have covered cancellation, but does not cover postponement," he said. "But postponement required the agreement of the organizing committee, which needed to be prepared to carry on for another year -- and the Japanese government also had to be willing to go on supporting the preparations."

Abe announced on March 24 that the Tokyo Games would be postponed due to the global interruptions and health concerns caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The additional cost is estimated to be around 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion).

The Tokyo Games are now set to open on July 23, 2021.


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