TOKYO (AP) " A Tokyo metropolitan government panel reviewing costly Olympic venues has proposed downgrading the expensive rowing and canoeing site for the Tokyo Games to temporary quality, or moving the events to an existing site in northern Japan. The city-commissioned panel of outside experts, in a report submitted to Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike on Tuesday, said a downgrade could decrease the estimated construction and operational cost of the Sea Forest venue from an original 70 billion yen ($700 million) to about 30 billion yen ($300 million). Alternatively, using the existing facility in Miyagi would require investing an estimated 35 billion yen ($350 million) to meet Olympic standards. The city panel also proposed options of moving two other sports " volleyball and swimming " from planned new venues to existing ones.

Source: New Zealand Herald November 01, 2016 04:54 UTC