The Tokyo Games organizing committee is planning to increase the budget for the opening and closing ceremonies of the postponed Olympics and Paralympics to 16.5 billion yen ($159.7 million), sources close to the games revealed Monday.

Organizers have decided to raise the budget by an additional 3.5 billion yen due to the influence of the games' one-year postponement over the coronavirus pandemic, the sources said. The increase will be discussed at a board meeting on Tuesday.


Related coverage:

Russia's Tokyo Olympics ban upheld, suspension shortened

IPC confirms "period of stay guidelines" for Tokyo Paralympics

Tokyo Olympic torch relay to still traverse Japan's 47 prefectures


It will be the second time organizers will have raised the budget for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Tokyo Games, scheduled to start on July 23 in the Japanese capital next summer.

The budget was increased by about 43 percent to 13 billion yen in February last year after it was determined the 9.1 billion yen estimate generated at the time of Tokyo's bid would not be enough.

The Tokyo Games were projected to cost around 1.35 trillion yen ($13 billion) prior to the one-year delay, with an extra 294 billion yen in costs arising from the postponement and countermeasures needed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.