Fifty-two items have been targeted for the simplification of the rescheduled Tokyo Games in 2021.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee have announced initial plans to simplify the Games next summer to help offset the cost of postponement and organise a “safe and secure” competition in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As part of the streamlining process, 10% to 15% of the Olympic stakeholder delegation estimated at 50,000 will be reduced.
In addition the team welcoming ceremonies at the Athletes’ Village have been cancelled – 44 were scheduled for the Olympics and 49 for the Paralympics.
The simpilified Olympic Games are already being refered to as ‘The Tokyo Model’.
IOC Vice President John Coates, Chairman of the Coordination Commission for Tokyo 2020 said,
“We go through these simplifications, we go through these efficiencies and we’re going to leave an important legacy – which we’re already calling the Tokyo Model – that will become a blueprint that will benefit future Olympic Organising Committees for many years to come.”
A figure for the total savings were not announced, with COVID-19 countermeasures still being deliberated.
In a separate move, the IOC Olympic Channel is reported to be cutting its communications and public relations team as part of a restructure, to “streamline its operations”.
The axing of the Olympic Channel’s media team comes as part of a reorganisation of the IOC, announced last year to “adapt to a changing landscape”.
As part of the restructuring, a Digital Engagement and Marketing Department, based at Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, has been created, led by Christopher Carroll.
The move follows an IOC Session in Lausanne in January, where Carroll outlined plans to extend ‘the direct digital engagement with Olympic fans globally’, in close cooperation with the Olympic Channel.
The Olympic Channel which was launched in 2016, has a seven-year £465 million budget.
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