Japan approves $1.5b deal for new Tokyo Olympic stadium
TOKYO — The Japanese government approved a 150 billion yen ($1.5 billion) contract Friday to build a new main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a project that has been delayed by more than a year.
Officials said the stadium construction would begin in December after an earlier plan was scrapped because of spiraling costs and an unpopular design.
The Japan Sport Council, a government-funded organization operating the project, said the stadium was scheduled for completion at the end of November 2019, still five months behind schedule. The delay forced a venue change for the Rugby World Cup that Japan is also hosting in 2019.
The cost of an earlier design by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid had risen to 265 billion yen ($2.65 billion), more than twice the initial forecast.