TOKYO -- IOC President Thomas Bach expressed willingness Tuesday to work with Tokyo officials to achieve a significant reduction in costs for the 2020 Olympics, but suggested the effort should stick to the current venue plans.Bach arrived in Japan amid growing tension between Olympic organizers and recently elected Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, who is pushing to cut costs. A preliminary report from a city expert panel late last month proposed moving three sports from planned new venues to existing ones -- including relocating rowing to a site hundreds of miles outside the capital.Bach reminded the governor that Tokyo should respect the agreement it signed when it was awarded the games three years ago.I think it is in the interest of Japan, Tokyo and IOC that we do not change the rules of the competition after the election, Bach said. By respecting these principles we can very well lk into the budget of Tokyo 2020 and we can lk at the cost. We can see together how we can make it even more feasible.Bach proposed four-party talks among the International Olympic Committee, Tokyo organizers, the city government and Japans central government to agree on additional cost reductions, starting as early as November after Tokyo releases a final report. Bach declined to discuss specific proposals, saying he only knew about them from media reports.The Tokyo metropolitan government will finalize its internal study, then well discuss it with the other stakeholders ... and then I am confident that you will see a significant reduction in the cost compared to what we have seen so far from the press, Bach told reporters after a 40-minute televised meeting with Koike.The Tokyo panels preliminary report said the overall cost of the Olympics could exceed $30 billion -- four times the initial estimate -- unless drastic cuts are made.The review focuses on whether each venue can be cost-effective while also contribute to the reconstruction of the area hit by the 2011 tsunami and Fukushima disaster.Thats how we have promoted to attract the games, Koike said. We need understanding of the residents of Tokyo as we are relying on their money.The IOC has suggested the possibility of moving rowing to an existing site in South Korea in case there is no resolution over the Japanese venue, the Asahi newspaper reported, quoting unidentified Japanese sources as saying. The South Korean venue in Chungiu City hosted the 2013 world championships and rowing at the 2014 Asian Games.Asked about the report at Tokyos Haneda airport, Bach said: I will not comment on any kind of rumors. Japanese Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa told reporters she could not confirm the report.Tokyo won the right to host the games in 2013 by promising a compact bid with 28 of the 31 competition venues within a five-mile (eight-kilometer) radius of the Olympic Village. Originally, only shting, modern pentathlon and one soccer venue were to be outside the radius.Already, the venues for basketball, taekwondo and cycling have been moved outside of Tokyo to reduce costs by using existing facilities. Cycling was moved to Izu, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of the capital.After her election at the end of July, Koike convened a panel of independent experts to review Olympic venues and costs.Its most drastic proposal has been to suggest moving the rowing and canoeing venue to an existing facility about 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of Tokyo, after the projected cost for a new venue in Tokyo Bay rose to 49 billion yen ($490 million), seven times the initial estimate.John Coates, an IOC vice president and former rower who heads the crdination commission for the Tokyo Games, was asked about the costs of the rowing site in Tokyo.The figures are very large to us, he said. We can certainly reduce those numbers.Meanwhile, the Japan Rowing Association and Japan Canoe Federation issued separate statements calling for the venue to stay in Tokyo.The local organizing committee in Tokyo has objected to the possible move, arguing the competition should remain at the planned Sea Forest Waterway.It said the existing facility that Koike is exploring in northern Japans Miyagi prefecture lacks infrastructure, accommodation for spectators and will be inconvenient for athletes.Tokyo organizers also said the final construction cost for the Sea Forest Waterway will likely be lower than estimated, while additional costs for transportation, security and infrastructure to move the events to Miyagi would add up.The expert panel has also suggested sticking with the planned venues, but reducing their scale to save money.---Follow Mari Yamaguchi at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchiFind her work also at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/mari-yamaguchiCheap Custom Basketball Jerseys Sale . 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Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said.RIO DE JANEIRO -- South Koreas chance at an Olympic soccer medal gone, forward Son Heung-min dropped to his knees, put his forehead on the grass and wept.Anguish over the end of a chance at Olympic glory? Without doubt.But with the loss to Honduras, Son and his teammates had also missed out on what has been a powerful added incentive since the days when South Korea was a military dictatorship: Men who step onto the medal podium are exempted from the approximately two years of military service that nearly all young, able bodied South Korean men, from pop stars to lawmakers sons, have to perform in the face of North Korean threats of war.I couldnt stop crying because I was so sorry for letting my teammates down, said Son, 24, who plays with the English Premier League club Tottenham and who acknowledged ahead of the game that a military exemption was on his mind. I couldnt even lk at their faces.Since the early 1970s, South Korean officials have linked the exemptions to medals, an attempt originally by military strongmen to associate Olympic achievement with national pride and regime loyalty. But there are now growing calls to scrap what had once been regarded as a deserved perk for heroic athletic accomplishment.Theres widespread resentment over mandatory military service in general amid a terrible job market and the failure of South Koreas military to eliminate bullying and abuse in the barracks. And full-time athletes already get unfair special treatment, critics believe, even when they dont win medals. Athletes, for instance, many of whom are rich and famous, can spend their mandatory service playing for military- or police-run sports teams.Regular South Koreans, meanwhile, often see their lives thrown into turmoil in their youths because they have to interrupt their educations or careers, a major disadvantage in South Koreas ultra-competitive society. The discontent about preferential treatment has been bubbling to the surface for some time.For instance, even amid the excitement in South Korea over the country winning its first-ever Olympic soccer medal, at the London Games, there were bitter jokes about reserve defender Kim Ki-hee, who, after failing to log a single minute in previous matches, qualified for military exemption by playing the last five minutes of the bronze medal match against Japan.The taxes we pay are already spent on trainingg these athletes, and its strange that we additionally reward them with military exemptions when they actually do well, said Kim Min-seok, 38, an office worker in Seoul.dddddddddddd We should overcome and change this nationalistic approach to sports and the system for developing elite athletes, not further promote it.Until the 1980s, South Korea compensated performers from a large number of competitions, including world championships and even the World University Games. Since then, the exemptions have been narrowed to winners of Olympic medals and Asian Game golds.But there are still exceptions.Laws were temporarily changed to grant exemptions to South Koreas national mens soccer team, which finished a surprising fourth in the 2002 World Cup, and to national baseball team players who finished third in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.More than 80 male athletes are currently being exempted from military service, save for four weeks of military training, according to South Koreas Military Manpower Administration.Seung Yun Lee, a professor at Seouls Konkuk University, said South Korea should recognize changing public sentiments and declining Olympic popularity and shift its focus from grming a small number of elite athletes to strengthening sports facilities and programs for regular people.Ha Taekwon, a former South Korean Olympic badminton champion, defends military exemptions for young Olympic medalists who, unlike others, only have a small window of prime performance.Because Olympic medal winners also receive lifelong government payments of up to 1 million won ($900) a month, military exemptions mean much more to athletes in less popular sports than they do to highly compensated soccer and baseball players, for instance, Ha said.It was the biggest thing going through my mind, Ha said of the possibility of a military exemption in the lead-up to his bronze medal win in badminton doubles at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.After the pressure (of military service) was lifted, I found myself playing more lsely and aggressively, said Ha, who won a doubles gold at the 2004 Athens Games.---Kim reported from Seoul.---Follow Foster Klug at www.twitter.com/apklug . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/foster-klug . ' ' '