80% of venues secured for next year's Games - Tokyo 2020

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VIDEO SHOWS: TOKYO 2020 EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING, NEWS CONFERENCE WITH TOKYO 2020 CEO, TOSHIRO MUTO, FILE FOOTAGE OF TOKYO 2020 VENUES, MAIN PRESS CENTRE AND ATHLETES' VILLAGE

SHOWS:

TOKYO, JAPAN (JUNE 12, 2020) (AGENCY POOL - ACCESS ALL)

1. VARIOUS OF TOKYO 2020 CEO TOSHIRO MUTO SPEAKING TO ANOTHER OFFICIAL BEFORE TOKYO 2020 EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING STARTS

2. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO 2020 CEO, TOSHIRO MUTO, SAYING: (OFFICIAL TRANSLATION)

"We are hoping to use the same venues for the same sports next year. Adjustments still remain, but we are able to use 80% of the facilities that were originally supposed to be used last year, they can be used again."

TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - DECEMBER 15, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

3. RINGS OUTSIDE NATIONAL STADIUM

4. VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF NATIONAL STADIUM

5. VARIOUS INTERIORS OF NATIONAL STADIUM

TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - MARCH 26, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

6. VARIOUS OF TOKYO BIG SIGHT, WHICH WAS SCHEDULED TO HOST THE INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST CENTRE (IBC) AND THE MAIN PRESS CENTRE (MPC) AT TOKYO 2020 OLYMPICS

TOKYO, JAPAN (JUNE 12, 2020) (AGENCY POOL - ACCESS ALL)

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO 2020 CEO, TOSHIRO MUTO, SAYING: (OFFICIAL TRANSLATION)

"Regarding Tokyo Big Sight, to be used as the IBC and MPC, it is also Tokyo-owned but many reservations have already been made by other users for next year. Therefore, we are working together with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in coordinating the schedule."

TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - MARCH 26, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

8. VARIOUS OF ATHLETES' VILLAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

TOKYO, JAPAN (JUNE 12, 2020) (AGENCY POOL - ACCESS ALL)

9. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOKYO 2020 CEO, TOSHIRO MUTO, SAYING: (OFFICIAL TRANSLATION)

"For Tokyo, the Athletes' Village is not a competition venue but it is a very important facility for the Games. I would like to mention that this facility is still under negotiation."

TOKYO, JAPAN (JUNE 12, 2020) (AGENCY POOL - ACCESS ALL)

10. TOKYO 2020 EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING STARTS

11. JAPANESE OLYMPIC COMMITTEE PRESIDENT YASUHIRO YAMASHITA ARRIVING

12. YAMASHITA WEARING MASK

13. VARIOUS OF YAMASHITA SPEAKING TO ANOTHER OFFICIAL

14. TOKYO 2020 PRESIDENT YOSHIRO MORI ARRIVING

15. MORI TAKING OFF MASK AND SPEAKING TO ANOTHER OFFICIAL

16. MORI SPEAKING TO OFFICIAL

17. MORI GREETING YAMASHITA WITH ELBOW BUMP

18. EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING STARTING

19. MORI MAKING OPENING REMARKS

20. EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING UNDERWAY

STORY: Tokyo 2020 organisers announced on Friday (June 12) that 80% of the venues required to run a successful Olympics have been secured ahead of next year's rearranged Games.

In the original plan for the Olympics due to start next month, 43 venues, including eight new sites built for the Games, were included.

The National Stadium, set to host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, is one of the venues that has been successfully secured for 2021.

In March, the Japanese government and the International Olympic Committee made the unprecedented decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympics until 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Since then, organisers have battled against an array of problems stemming from the postponement, including rising costs, athlete safety and securing the venues.

On Friday, Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto announced that the majority of venues had been secured.

"We are hoping to use the same venues for the same sports next year," he said.

"Adjustments still remain, but we are able to use 80% of the facilities that were originally supposed to be used last year, they can be used again."

Muto didn't disclose all the venues where negotiations continue but did mention that the Athlete's Village and Tokyo Big Sight, the planned media centre, were yet to be fully secured.

The Athletes' Village promises to be the most complicated venue to lock down as many of the apartments in the newly-built complex have already been sold to private buyers for use after the Games.

TMG are negotiating with the 11 construction companies involved in the village's build and sale.

(Production: Jack Tarrant)