New stadium for 2020 Tokyo Olympics may be scaled down by 20 pc over criticism

A new stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics may reportedly be scaled down by 70,000-sq. meters, or approximately 25 percent as its original plan has come under fire over the design and bloated budget.

The Japan Sport Council (JSC), which runs the venue, held a meeting with experts from various fields to review the original plan for the mega-stadium to replace the one built for Tokyo's last Games in 1964.

According to The Japan Times, the council proposed reducing the planned 290,000-sq.-meter premises of the new National Stadium to 220,000-sq. meters, including making a smaller stadium and paring adjacent facilities, among them a proposed museum and business space.

However, the capacity will remain at 80,000, and the retractable roof, which was being reconsidered, is also expected to stay after it was deemed necessary to accommodate non-sporting events, with the JSC saying that the planned roof alone is expected to cost anywhere from ten billion yens to 15 billion yens.

The overall budget is set at 185.2 billion yens and the replacement for the current stadium, which seats 54,000, is expected to be ready by March 2019, the report added.