TOKYO (AP) — Japan's government has approved a plan for a nearly 150 billion yen ($1.5 billion) contract with a joint venture to build a new main stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Officials on Friday said the stadium construction will begin in December, more than a year after an earlier plan was scrapped because of spiraling cost and an unpopular design.
The Japan Sport Council, a government-funded organization operating the project, said the stadium is scheduled for completion at the end of November, 2019.
An earlier design by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid had risen to 265 billion yen ($2.