Laussane: The International Olympic Committee on Saturday announced that they are providing more than $25 million funds to cover extra athlete and team costs related to the one-year postponement of the Tokyo Games.
The IOC says an extra $15 million will go to a program helping 1,600 athletes from 185 less well-funded countries prepare for the games in 2021.
More than $10 million is available for national Olympic bodies to cover additional operational costs such as travel and accommodation for officials.
The money is being awarded through the Olympic Solidarity program. The program aims to help all 206 national Olympic teams and the refugee team send athletes to the games.
Earlier, Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori had said that the Olympic Games cannot be delayed beyond the year-long postponement already forced by the coronavirus outbreak.
Mori said there is "absolutely no" chance of postponing the Games beyond their rescheduled July 23, 2021 opening, according to a news agency.
"Also thinking about athletes and issues over Games management, it is technically difficult to delay it by two years," Mori was quoted as saying.
Mori said he had earlier asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe whether Japan should consider a two-year postponement but "the prime minister decided that one year is the way to go".
Under heavy pressure from athletes and sports associations, Japanese organisers and the International Olympic Committee in March agreed to a year-long postponement of the Games.
Organisers and Japanese officials have said the delayed Olympics will be a chance to showcase the world's triumph over the coronavirus, but questions have arisen about whether even a year's postponement is sufficient.
