Construction on the new National Stadium in Tokyo will begin early next year. The stadium is being built as the host stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The sports minister announced on Tuesday 21^st July, that the Japanese government would choose the design and builder through an international competition. This is happening because on Friday 17^th July the government threw out the original design after soaring costs reached $2 billion.

It is hoped that the construction won’t be dogged by controversial issues or set backs as seen at other recent major sporting events like Brazil hosting the world cup, Sochi Winter Olympics or Delhi’s Commonwealth Games, not to mention the on going Qatar 2022 and Russia 2018 FIFA world cup plans.

The construction of the original stadium was supposed to begin in October 2015 and be completed in time for the Rugby World Cup in 2019. Japan won the bid for the RWC in 2009, beating Italy and South Africa. Tokyo also won the Summer Olympic bid in 2013, beating both Istanbul and Madrid in the process.