Rugby Union News
Tokyo Stadium set for makeover
Tokyo National Stadium: Already an impressive sight
Tokyo's National Stadium is set to receive a major facelift ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Originally built for the 1964 Olympics, the stadium played host to World Athletics Championships in 1991 and soccer's Intercontinental Cup from 1980 to 2001. In 2019 it will add the Rugby World Cup to its résumé and possibly the Olympics once more in 2020.
In preparation for the showpiece event, there are a number of changes planned for the stadium.
"We are in talks with the stadium owners and Tokyo government about it being the venue for both the World Cup and the Olympics," Japan Rugby Football Union chairman Tatsuzo Yabe told Reuters.
"It will have seating for 80,000 to 100,000. We have to knock down the current National Stadium - it is old and only has a capacity of around 50,000.
"It will have seats which can be moved in when we need the track for the Olympics and back for ball games like soccer and rugby," Yabe added.
"It will cost around 100 billion yen ($1.31 billion). That would be the budget for it with the plan for construction to be completed by 2018."
