Related News
Japan’s sports minister quits over stadium fiasco
Print Edition
JAPAN’S sports minister yesterday said he had tendered his resignation over abandoned plans for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics main stadium after the venue’s US$2 billion price tag sparked a public backlash.
Hakubun Shimomura said he will stay in the job until a Cabinet reshuffle expected next month, at the request of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The stadium fiasco has pushed back a new venue’s completion date, embarrassing Japanese officials who have also been forced to find an alternate showpiece site for Rugby World Cup matches in 2019, which Japan will host.
“I offered my resignation to the prime minister over the phone last night,” Shimomura told a news conference.
“I caused trouble and made the public worry,” he said.
His departure comes after a panel released a report on Thursday that said he was responsible for the fiasco.
Abe shocked Olympic organizers in July when he pulled the plug on Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid’s winning design as soaring costs put it on course to become the world’s most expensive sports stadium.
Japan slashed the cost of the new Olympic stadium by more than 40 percent, setting a 155 billion yen (US$1.3 billion) cap on construction costs, well below the 265 billion yen estimated under the now-ditched design.
Following Tokyo’s decision to scrap the design plans, Kimito Kubo, a Japanese official heading the stadium construction, stepped down, saying it was for “personal reasons.”
The resignation was widely seen as him taking the blame for the embarrassing row.
Local media reported last week that renowned Japanese architects Kengo Kuma and Toyo Ito will take part in a new design competition.
Japan last month promised a new list of venues for the 2019 World Cup after rugby’s governing body demanded fresh plans in the wake of the proposed national stadium being scrapped.
World Rugby issued a strongly worded statement saying it was giving Japan until the end of September to come up with a “revised detailed host venue proposal” as organizers scramble to find a replacement.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
