Tokyo forced to scrap Olympic logo in embarrassing mishap

IN THE latest embarrassing mishap to hit the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, organisers have scrapped the event’s logo over plagiarism claims.

Can you spot the difference in these logos?

TOKYO’S 2020 Olympics organisers have scrapped the event’s scandal-hit logo in the latest mishap for the Games after a costs furore forced plans for a $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 Tuesday, in a stark reversal just days after they vowed to stand behind the logo and designer Kenjiro Sano.

Officials said their decision was not in response to Belgian designer Olivier Debie’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 the Belgian’s plagiarism claims.

“But we became aware of new things this 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.”

Sano himself has asked that his logo be pulled to avoid damaging the Tokyo Games, Muto added.

“We want to create a new emblem that represents the Tokyo Olympics and that is loved and supported by the public,” he said.

The poster with a logo of the 2020 Olympic Games is removed from a wall in Tokyo.

‘THE FACTS ARE THERE’

Debie said he would push forward with his lawsuit in a Belgian court.

“My initial reaction was to say, ‘There you go, we’ve won.’ But at their press conference, they completely beat around the bush and said they were scrapping the logo for some obscure reasons — so the case continues,” he told AFP.

“Plagiarism is impossible to prove but the facts are there: the layout and the typography are virtually identical. When I see the Tokyo 2020 logo, I say to myself, that’s the logo I created in 2011.”

There were no details on the timing of a new logo, but Muto said a competition to choose another design would be held at an unspecified date.

While Sano has denied copying Debie’s work, he has admitted that his team copied someone else’s designs for work they did on a beer promotion campaign for Japanese drinks giant Suntory.

An online petition with more than 22,000 signatures has called on officials to choose another image.

Tokyo governor Yoichi Masuzoe reacted angrily to news that the committee was going to scrap the emblem.

“This is a matter of credibility, and I want first and foremost for Mr Sano to explain this fully — I feel I have been betrayed,” he told reporters earlier Tuesday.

In recent days Olympic sponsors including national carrier Japan Airlines have started using the logo in their advertising campaigns, and the changes could deal a blow to lucrative sponsorship deals.

The scrapped Tokyo logo on the left, and Belgian designer Olivier Debie’s on the right.

EMBARRASSING SCANDALS

The stadium and logo scandals have become a major embarrassment for Japan, which hosted the 1964 Summer Games.

When Tokyo beat Madrid and Istanbul to host the 2020 event, Japan’s capital was widely seen as a safe choice with little chance of major delays or funding problems.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had promised “guaranteed delivery” of the world’s biggest multi-sports event.

He also brushed aside concerns about the still-precarious situation at the Fukushima atomic plant after its tsunami-triggered meltdown in 2011 — the worst nuclear crisis in a generation.

Tokyo’s Olympic emblem has been swept up in controversy since its unveiling in July after Debie said it copied work he had done for a Belgian theatre company.

He took the International Olympic Committee to court to block it from using the logo.

The IOC has rejected the claims and Muto last week insisted they had no plans to change the logo.

Tokyo’s emblem is based around the letter “T” — for Tokyo, tomorrow and team — with a red circle said to represent a beating heart.

The theatre’s design features a similar shape in white against a black background.

Japanese Olympic officials are still smarting over the national stadium fiasco after Abe ordered plans to be torn up in the face of growing anger over its cost.

It was on track to become the most expensive sports stadium in history. Last week, Japan said it would slash the cost of the showpiece venue by more than 40 per cent, setting a cap of 155 billion yen ($A1.79 billion) on construction costs.

Reversing their earlier support for designer Kenjiro Sano against allegations of plagiarising the design, the organisers said the decision came after new accusations over the weekend.

“We have reached a conclusion that it would be only appropriate for us to drop the logo and develop a new emblem,” said Toshio Muto, director general of the Tokyo organising committee. “At this point, we have decided that the logo cannot gain public support.”

Debie is convinced his design was plagiarised.

The logo has faced scrutiny since a Belgian designer took legal action saying it resembled one of his works that was created for a theatre in Belgium.

Organisers had defended Sano during a news conference last Friday when they released his original design, which had been altered into its final shape, to stress its authenticity. That, instead, triggered fresh allegations over the initial “T” design. Sano, 43, stood by his design but offered to withdraw the logo during discussion with the organisers.

“I swear my design did not involve copies or plagiarism,” Sano said in a statement on his website.

“Any attempt of suspected copying or plagiarism should never be permitted.”

Muto said the organising committee will have another competition to decide a new logo “as soon as possible,” though he did not give a schedule.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters before the announcement that the organising committee was making “an appropriate decision” and that the Olympic must be an event that is celebrated by everyone.

The logo scandal is another embarrassment for Japan, which scrapped the initial design of the main stadium for the Games following public uproar over its skyrocketing cost estimate.

The delay caused by that revision meant the new stadium won’t be ready for the 2019 Rugby World Cup as had been initially promised, and that organisers and builders will be struggling to meet the revised deadline of January, 2020 set by the International Olympic Committee.

“Discontinuing (the logo) within just over a month of its announcement has shaken the trust” of the people and the global sports community, Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda said in a statement, urging officials to promptly provide an explanation.