Tokyo Olympics organisers scrap 'plagiarised' 2020 Games logo amid criticism
Japanese Olympic committee ditches design at a hastily arranged press conference, in a stark reversal just days after they vowed to stand behind the designer Kenjiro Sano
Tokyo's 2020 Olympics organisers yesterday scrapped the event's scandal-hit logo in the latest mishap for the Games after a costs furore forced plans for a US$2 billion new national stadium to be torn up.
The decision - which comes amid plagiarism claims and mounting questions about the logo designer's credibility - caps an embarrassing month for Olympic officials as the ditching of the stadium means a new showpiece may only be ready a few months before the global event.
Japanese Olympic bosses announced their decision at a hastily arranged press conference, in a stark reversal just days after they vowed to stand behind the logo and designer Kenjiro Sano.
There was a sense of crisis that we thought could not be ignored. The reason we're withdrawing [the logo] is because it no longer has public support
Officials said their decision was not in response to a Belgian designer's lawsuit that alleged Sano copied his work. Instead, they pointed to slumping public confidence and evidence that Sano had improperly swiped internet images to highlight locations where his logo could be displayed.
"We're certain the two logos are different," Toshiro Muto, director general of the Tokyo Organising Committee, said of Belgian Olivier Debie's plagiarism claims.
"But we became aware of new things at the weekend and there was a sense of crisis that we thought could not be ignored.
"The reason we're withdrawing [the logo] is because it no longer has public support."