Tokyo: Tokyo’s 2020 Olympics organisers will scrap the event’s logo after it drew plagiarism claims, reports said on Tuesday, in the latest mishap after a costs furore forced plans for a new national stadium to be torn up.
The decision, reported by public broadcaster NHK and other local press outlets, caps off an embarrassing month for Olympic officials as the ditching of the $2 billion (Dh7.34 billion) stadium meant the showpiece venue may only be ready a few months before the global event.
Japanese media, without citing sources, said the Olympic committee would hold an emergency meeting before officially announcing that they would scrap the emblem due to the brewing controversy.
The final nail in the coffin may have been that designer Kenjiro Sano swiped images posted on the internet to highlight locations in Tokyo where his logo could be displayed, media reported.
In recent days, Olympic sponsors including carrier Japan Airlines have started using the logo in their advertising campaigns.
The Games have been overshadowed by controversy in the wake of the scrapped stadium and logo scandal, in what has become a major embarrassment for Japan.
When Tokyo was chosen two years ago to host the Games — a half-century after the 1964 Olympics in the Japanese capital — it was widely expected that the city was a safe choice with little chance of widespread delays or funding problems.
The emblem has been swept up in controversy since its unveiling in July after Belgian designer Olivier Debie claimed it copied work he had done for a theatre company.
Debie has taken the International Olympic Committee to court to block it from using the logo.
The IOC has rejected the claims and Japanese officials again on Friday said Sano’s work was original and they had no plans to change it.
