The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is looking into hosting rowing and canoe/kayak sprint events for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games in South Korea, if an agreement cannot be reached to keep the venue for the races in Tokyo, Japanese media said on Tuesday.
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike, who took office in August, ordered a review of Olympic expenses that last month recommended changing three venues to save money, a move criticised by the 2020 Organising Committee and international sports officials.
One of the changes would mean moving rowing and canoe/kayak sprint events some 400 km north of Tokyo to use existing facilities rather than building new ones in the capital, an effort to rein in costs projected to hit 3 trillion yen ($A38 billion).
That figure is some four times the initial estimates made when Tokyo won the right to host Games in 2013.
Both the IOC and international rowing federation favour the original plan to keep the venue in Tokyo, while Koike last week told Reuters this was the last chance to take steps to rein in soaring costs for the Games.
If they failed to reach an agreement on the Tokyo site, known as the Sea Forest Waterway, the IOC was looking into hosting the events in the South Korean city of Chungju, where rowing events were held for the 2014 Asian Games, media reports said.
IOC President Thomas Bach meets Koike later on Tuesday, and the venue change is set to be high on the agenda.
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