Tokyo's new National Stadium is ready to host the 2020 Olympics

Tokyo, November 30 (efe-epa): The construction and inspection of Tokyo's new National Stadium has been completed, the organization responsible for the project announced Saturday, nearly eight months before the start of the Olympic Games in the Japanese capital.

The Japan Sport Council, the public-private body in charge of the construction of what will be one of the main venues of the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics, on Saturday completed the necessary procedures to make the stadium available to the Tokyo government and the organizing committee.

The new venue is located on the site of the demolished stadium that hosted the Olympic Games in 1964 and its construction has been completed after a delay caused by a change in the original design.

In the sumer of 2015, the Tokyo government and the Games' organizing committee decided to discard the original design of the stadium in order to reduce its budget following a barrage of criticism due to its magnitude and excessive cost.

The extravagant design by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid that was initially chosen was scrapped and replaced by that of Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, which organizers say imparts a more austere appearance to the stadium and a more eco-friendly character adapted to Japanese tradition and the environment.

The change in design led to a delayed start in the construction and meant that Japan could not use it to host the 2019 Rugby World Cup in September as originally planned.

Its construction began in December 2016 — about 14 months later than originally planned — and has been completed at a final cost of 157 billion yen ($1.43 billion).

The stadium can seat 60,000 spectators and will host the opening and closing ceremonies, as well athletic and soccer events of the Games, which will take place in Tokyo between July 24 - Aug. 9 next year.

Toshiro Muto, the executive director of the organizing committee, expressed confidence that the stadium would become an irreplaceable legacy.

The stadium is scheduled to be officially inaugurated on Dec. 21 and the Emperor's Cup soccer final will be the first event to be held there on Jan. 1, 2020.