Japan official quitting amid Tokyo 2020 stadium row

A Japanese official heading construction of the 2020 Olympic stadium is quitting his post after Tokyo ordered design plans for the venue to be ditched amid public anger at its $2.0 billion price tag. The resignation of Kimito Kubo, 58, comes as Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid hit out at Japan's claims that her futuristic design was to blame for the spiralling stadium bill. Building costs for the showpiece venue had nearly doubled to 252 billion yen ($2.04 billion) from the original budget, which would put it on track to become the world's most expensive stadium. Earlier this month Prime Minister Shinzo Abe waded into the growing furore, ordering officials to rip up the plan and "go back to the drawing board" to curb the spiralling costs. Days later it was revealed that Japan would be on the hook to pay as much as $50 million in costs tied to already-awarded contracts linked to the original design. On Tuesday the government said Kubo, director-general of the education ministry's sports and youth bureau, was stepping down next month for "personal reasons", describing it as a simple personnel shuffle. But the resignation of the official overseeing stadium construction was widely seen as him taking the blame for the embarrassing row -- sparking calls from opposition parties for Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura to quit instead. On Tuesday in London, Hadid waded into the debate, saying expensive contractors and a flawed bidding process -- not building design -- were to blame. A statement from her firm said Japanese officials had been warned about the possibility of soaring costs. But "our warning was not heeded that selecting contractors too early in a heated construction market and without sufficient competition would lead to an overly high estimate of the cost of construction", her office said. "We advised...that...against a backdrop of rocketing annual increases in the cost of building in Tokyo, and in the absence of any international competition, the early selection of a limited number of construction contractors would not lead to a commercially competitive process." Hadid's futuristic design had intially been met with fury by many Japanese architects. But what began as a row over aesthetics gave way to widespread discontent and public bickering over finances. Hadid's office said it had written to Japan's premier to "offer our services to support his review of the project with the current design team". The original plan's eye-watering price tag dwarfs that of other Olympic venues. London spent around $680 million on the main venue for the 2012 Games, while Beijing's 2008 "Bird's Nest" stadium cost less than $500 million. A new bidding process was being launched with another design expected within six months, officials have said. The decision means the organisers of the 2019 Rugby World Cup will have to find a new venue for the final, but officials said a new stadium could still be completed in time for the 2020 Summer Games.