豐田章男從東京奧組委辭職

Preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics sank deeper into trouble yesterday when the president of Toyota abruptly stepped down from the games’ main organising committee.

2020年東京奧運會的籌備工作昨日遭遇更大的麻煩，豐田(Toyota)社長豐田章男（Akio Toyoda，見上圖）突然從東京奧運會組委會辭職。

The resignation of Akio Toyoda, whose company has taken an unprecedented $1bn marketing bet on becoming one of the biggest corporate sponsors of the Olympics, followed renewed speculation the cost of hosting the event in Tokyo may spiral to over six times the original Y300bn ($2.5bn) estimate.

豐田章男辭職前再度有傳言稱，東京奧運會的承辦成本可能會飆升至最初估計的3000億日元（合25億美元）的6倍以上。而豐田展開了空前的10億美元營銷豪賭，志在成爲這屆東京奧運會的最大讚助企業之一。

The claims of the spiralling costs were first reported by Japan’s public broadcaster NHK at the weekend and if true would make the Tokyo Olympics even more expensive than the 8.77bn cost of hosting the London 2012 games.

承辦成本飆升的消息是上週末由日本公共廣播電視機構NHK首先報道的。如果消息屬實，這屆東京奧運會的承辦成本將比2012年倫敦奧運會的承辦成本（87.7億英鎊）還要高。

People close to the decision said Mr Toyoda’s move arose from a possible conflict of interest between his roles on the organising committee and as head of the Keidanren business federation’s main Olympic lobbying group.

知情人士表示，豐田章男辭職是因爲，他在東京奧組委的職務與他在日本經濟團體聯合會(Keidanren)的主要奧運遊說組織擔任的主席職務之間存在潛在利益衝突。

Mr Toyoda’s departure is the latest setback for an organising panel that has been forced, through scandal and public outrage, to tear up plans for a new national stadium, scrap the Tokyo logo over plagiarism claims and abandon the bid pledge of being the “compact games” by hosting some events hundreds of miles from the capital.

豐田章男辭職是東京奧組委遭遇的最新挫折。由於醜聞和公衆的憤怒情緒，東京奧組委被迫放棄了新建國家體育場的一個方案，並放棄了涉嫌剽竊的東京奧運會會徽，還放棄了辦“緊湊型奧運會”的申辦承諾，一些賽事將在距東京數百英里的場館舉行。

The central Tokyo site where the national stadium is to be built remains a weed-grown expanse of emptiness as organisers weigh two newly-submitted designs by Japanese architects. The design originally chosen, by the British architect Zaha Hadid, was dropped in July in response to estimates that it would cost almost twice the Y130bn originally envisaged. The delay means the new stadium will not be completed by 2019, when Japan is due to host the Rugby World Cup.

將建設國家體育場的東京奧運會主會場目前仍是一片雜草、空空蕩蕩，組織者正在權衡日本建築師新提交的兩個設計方案。今年7月，日本放棄了最初選擇的英國建築師扎哈哈迪德(Zaha Hadid)的設計方案，原因是該方案的造價預計將爲最初計劃的1300億日元的兩倍。項目的推遲意味着，新的主體育場不會在2019年之前建成，而日本將在這一年承辦世界盃橄欖球賽(Rugby World Cup)。

Within the past few days the Japanese government and the Tokyo metropolitan administration reached a truce in a long-running row over who should pay for the stadium which, under the new agreement, will result in Tokyo taxpayers footing about a quarter of the bill.

過去幾天，日本政府和東京都政府結束了有關誰應爲這個主體育場出資的長期爭議，根據新的協議，東京納稅人將爲約四分之一的造價買單。

Mr Toyoda said resigning from the organising committee would allow him to intensify “efforts to encourage the business community to actively support the delivery of the 2020 games” in his role as chairman of the Keidanren committee. He added: “I feel it is vitally important that the organising committee and Japan’s business community further strengthen their collaborations before the Rio 2016 games.”

豐田章男表示，從東京奧組委辭職將令他以經團聯體育推進委員會主席的身份，加大“努力，推動企業界積極支持2020年奧運會的舉行”。他補充稱：“我認爲，奧組委和日本企業界在2016年裏約熱內盧奧運會之前進一步加強合作是極其重要的。”

Mr Toyoda is expected to be replaced on the Olympics organising committee by Kazuhiro Tsuga, the president of Panasonic. Although he also sits with Mr Toyoda on the business federation’s Olympic committee, a spokesman for Tokyo 2020 said Mr Tsuga’s more junior position meant the risk of conflict was reduced.

預計松下(Panasonic)社長津賀一宏(Kazuhiro Tsuga)將接任豐田章男在東京奧組委的職務。儘管津賀與豐田章男同是經團聯體育推進委員會的成員，但2020年東京奧運會的發言人表示，津賀在經團聯的職位較低，這意味着利益衝突的風險降低了。

In March — and on the direct orders of Mr Toyoda — Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, signed a $1bn, 10-year sponsorship deal allowing it to use the Olympic rings in its global advertising material from the start of 2017.

今年3月，在豐田章男的直接命令下，全球最大汽車製造商豐田簽訂了一項價值10億美元、爲期10年的贊助協議。根據該協議，豐田可從2017年初開始在其全球廣告資料中使用奧運五環標誌。