Architect Zaha Hadid’s £2bn stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics branded ‘too expensive’

Zaha Hadid's design for the new National Stadium in Tokyo (AP)

Japan is scaling down the planned main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, following an uproar from some prominent figures who think it’s too big and expensive.

Hakubun Shimomura, the minister for sports, told parliament the stadium designed by award-winning British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid would cost 300 billion yen (£1.9bn) – “too massive a budget.”

The 80,000-seat, futuristic-looking stadium had been billed as costing 130 billion yen (£820m) before the updated estimate was given. Mr Shimomura’s remarks signal a policy change. He did not give specifics on how construction will be trimmed, but he stressed that the design concept will be kept. Construction will begin next year.

AP