John Coates, who heads the International Olympic Committee's Coordination Commission, took part in an urgent teleconference Friday regarding a Tokyo Metropolitan Government proposal to switch three venues for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, an informed source said.
With the games' costs potentially soaring above ¥3 trillion ($30 billion), a review panel set up by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike recommended Thursday that the metropolitan government reconsider the construction of three venues: swimming, volleyball, and rowing and canoe sprinting.
Coates conferred for an hour with 2020 Organizing Committee CEO Toshiro Muto and Tokyo Vice Gov. Takashi Yamamoto, during which he expressed grave concerns over the plan to abandon agreed-upon venues.