Although Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said in an interview the city would be bidding for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games after losing its 2016 bid, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government international affairs officer Noriko Hachiya told Reuters Wednesday, “there’s been no formal announcement. We have no information beyond this morning’s newspaper reports of Governor Ishihara’s meeting with the JOC vice president”.
Ishihara reportedly had told Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) vice president Tomiaki Fukuda he wanted Tokyo to bid for 2020 after its 2016 disappointment.
Hachiya said Ishihara’s weekly news conference on Friday could shed further light on the matter. She said, “we expect there may be some questions about a potential Olympic bid at that time”.
Reuters reports a Tokyo official said there was “nothing currently in the diary” about 2020 but confirmed that the comments attributed to Ishihara were accurate.
Another bid by Tokyo would have to be approved by the city assembly.
