Preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics sank deeper into trouble yesterday when the president of Toyota abruptly¹ stepped down from the games’ main organising committee.

2020年东京奥运会的筹备工作昨日遭遇更大的麻烦，丰田(Toyota)社长丰田章男（Akio Toyoda，见上图）突然从东京奥运会组委会辞职。

The resignation of Akio Toyoda, whose company has taken an unprecedented² $1bn marketing³ bet on becoming one of the biggest corporate⁴ sponsors of the Olympics, followed renewed speculation⁵ the cost of hosting the event in Tokyo may spiral to over six times the original Y300bn ($2.5bn) estimate.

丰田章男辞职前再度有传言称，东京奥运会的承办成本可能会飙升至最初估计的3000亿日元（合25亿美元）的6倍以上。而丰田展开了空前的10亿美元营销豪赌，志在成为这届东京奥运会的最大赞助企业之一。

The claims of the spiralling costs were first reported by Japan’s public broadcaster NHK at the weekend and if true would make the Tokyo Olympics even more expensive than the 8.77bn cost of hosting the London 2012 games.

承办成本飙升的消息是上周末由日本公共广播电视机构NHK首先报道的。如果消息属实，这届东京奥运会的承办成本将比2012年伦敦奥运会的承办成本（87.7亿英镑）还要高。

People close to the decision said Mr Toyoda’s move arose from a possible conflict of interest between his roles on the organising committee and as head of the Keidanren business federation’s main Olympic lobbying group.

知情人士表示，丰田章男辞职是因为，他在东京奥组委的职务与他在日本经济团体联合会(Keidanren)的主要奥运游说组织担任的主席职务之间存在潜在利益冲突。

Mr Toyoda’s departure is the latest setback⁶ for an organising panel that has been forced, through scandal and public outrage⁷, to tear up plans for a new national stadium, scrap⁸ the Tokyo logo over plagiarism⁹ claims and abandon the bid pledge of being the “compact games” by hosting some events hundreds of miles from the capital.

丰田章男辞职是东京奥组委遭遇的最新挫折。由于丑闻和公众的愤怒情绪，东京奥组委被迫放弃了新建国家体育场的一个方案，并放弃了涉嫌剽窃的东京奥运会会徽，还放弃了办“紧凑型奥运会”的申办承诺，一些赛事将在距东京数百英里的场馆举行。

The central Tokyo site where the national stadium is to be built remains¹⁰ a weed-grown expanse of emptiness as organisers weigh two newly-submitted designs by Japanese architects. The design originally chosen, by the British architect Zaha Hadid, was dropped in July in response to estimates that it would cost almost twice the Y130bn originally envisaged¹¹. The delay means the new stadium will not be completed by 2019, when Japan is due to host the Rugby World Cup.

将建设国家体育场的东京奥运会主会场目前仍是一片杂草、空空荡荡，组织者正在权衡日本建筑师新提交的两个设计方案。今年7月，日本放弃了最初选择的英国建筑师扎哈哈迪德(Zaha Hadid)的设计方案，原因是该方案的造价预计将为最初计划的1300亿日元的两倍。项目的推迟意味着，新的主体育场不会在2019年之前建成，而日本将在这一年承办世界杯橄榄球赛(Rugby World Cup)。

Within the past few days the Japanese government and the Tokyo metropolitan¹² administration reached a truce¹³ in a long-running row over who should pay for the stadium which, under the new agreement, will result in Tokyo taxpayers¹⁴ footing about a quarter of the bill.

过去几天，日本政府和东京都政府结束了有关谁应为这个主体育场出资的长期争议，根据新的协议，东京纳税人将为约四分之一的造价买单。

Mr Toyoda said resigning from the organising committee would allow him to intensify¹⁵ “efforts to encourage the business community to actively¹⁶ support the delivery of the 2020 games” in his role as chairman of the Keidanren committee. He added: “I feel it is vitally important that the organising committee and Japan’s business community further strengthen their collaborations before the Rio 2016 games.”

丰田章男表示，从东京奥组委辞职将令他以经团联体育推进委员会主席的身份，加大“努力，推动企业界积极支持2020年奥运会的举行”。他补充称：“我认为，奥组委和日本企业界在2016年里约热内卢奥运会之前进一步加强合作是极其重要的。”

Mr Toyoda is expected to be replaced on the Olympics organising committee by Kazuhiro Tsuga, the president of Panasonic. Although he also sits with Mr Toyoda on the business federation’s Olympic committee, a spokesman for Tokyo 2020 said Mr Tsuga’s more junior position meant the risk of conflict was reduced.

预计松下(Panasonic)社长津贺一宏(Kazuhiro Tsuga)将接任丰田章男在东京奥组委的职务。尽管津贺与丰田章男同是经团联体育推进委员会的成员，但2020年东京奥运会的发言人表示，津贺在经团联的职位较低，这意味着利益冲突的风险降低了。

In March — and on the direct orders of Mr Toyoda — Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, signed a $1bn, 10-year sponsorship deal allowing it to use the Olympic rings in its global advertising¹⁷ material from the start of 2017.

今年3月，在丰田章男的直接命令下，全球最大汽车制造商丰田签订了一项价值10亿美元、为期10年的赞助协议。根据该协议，丰田可从2017年初开始在其全球广告资料中使用奥运五环标志。