The chief executive of Tokyo 2020's organising committee Toshiro Muto admits the cost of rescheduling the Olympics and Paralympics next year is likely to be "massive".
The Games were postponed this week until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the additional costs to Japan have been estimated to be up to 12 billion dollars.
"We need to secure the facilities. Not only the venues but the athletes' village, training sites and what not," Muto said following the first meeting of a task force charged with planning for the rescheduling.
"We need to assess whether they will be available when we need them next year. There will be additional costs that come with this - and we expect it will probably be massive.
"We are dealing with the postponement of the Games, which has never happened in history. The task is daunting."
President of the Tokyo organising committee Yoshiro Mori says the it's important to have clarity soon so that planning can begin:
"What we have been working on for seven years came to a screeching halt just as it was about to start - and now we have to build it back again.
"We are going to have to cram into about six months what we achieved in seven years, so it will be difficult. To use rugby lingo, we now need to string phase after phase, after phase. It will not be a game of packs.
"Making decisions seamlessly will be crucial".
