Japan to scrap plans for Olympic stadium

Tokyo

JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced on Friday the scrapping of a plan for a controversial national stadium, the centrepiece of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, after sky-rocketing costs sparked public outrage.

Anger over the stadium, the estimated cost of which had climbed to US$2.1 billion, almost twice its expected cost when Tokyo won the bid for the Summer Games in 2013, had become a liability for Mr Abe as he pushes unpopular defence bills through Parliament.