From Inside the Games
An investigation team probing the controversial payment made by Tokyo 2020 to Singapore-based Black Tidings has reportedly dismissed allegations that the money was used as a bribe.
The three-strong investigation team, made up of two lawyers and a certified public accountant, was established by the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) to probe a transaction from the Bid Committee totalling $2 million (£1.3 million/€1.7 million).
It is thought the payment was made in two installments in 2013 to Black Tidings, before Tokyo won the right to host the 2020 Olympics at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Buenos Aires.
The association with Black Tidings was highly controversial, due to its links to Papa Massata Diack, son of disgraced former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Lamine Diack.
Lamine Diack was a voting International Olympic Committee (IOC) member when Tokyo was elected as host, with investigators probing whether the payment was in fact a bribe paid to secure the support of the Senegalese and others under his influence.
“What was most important for the team was to probe whether the bid committee in fact bribed someone,” Yoshihisa Hayakawa, one of the panel, told Agence France-Presse.
