Heavy machinery works to dismantle Japan's National Stadium for the renovation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, in Tokyo Saturday, July 18, 2015. Japan scrapped the design of the Olympic stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Games because of soaring costs Friday and said it will reopen bidding for a new plan, in a stunning reversal that leaves the 2019 Rugby World Cup without a main venue. The government has been under mounting criticism as the estimated cost of the new National Stadium rose to 252 billion yen ($2 billion), nearly twice as much as the initial estimate of 130 billion yen. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara) (The Associated Press)
TOKYO – Japan will start construction of a new national stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in January or February.
Sports minister Hakubun Shimomura says the government will choose a new design and builder through an international competition with the aim of completing the stadium by the spring of 2020.
The government scrapped the original design of the stadium on Friday because of soaring costs which reached $2 billion. Construction of that stadium was supposed to begin in October and be completed in May 2019 in time for the Rugby World Cup in 2019.
Shimomura also said he is considering setting up an independent panel to find out why construction costs of the scrapped stadium were so high.
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