Inside the Games
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe has vowed to cooperate with the ongoing French investigation into an alleged bribe paid by Tokyo 2020 during their successful bid to land the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Transfers totalling $2 million (£1.3 million/€1.7 million) were made in 2013 to a Singapore-based account owned by company Black Tidings, allegedly used by the disgraced Diack family.
Lamine Diack, the former President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and who was later embroiled in corruption allegations, was still a voting International Olympic Committee (IOC) member until 2013 and was also thought to have influence over the decisions of others.
It has been alleged that the money, therefore, could have been used to sway Diack and other voting IOC members at the 2013 Session when Tokyo was elected as Olympic host in Buenos Aires.
Tokyo 2020 and Japanese officials have denied all the allegations and claim the money was a legitimate consulting fee.
Abe, who played a key late role in Buenos Aires by meeting with influential members including Diack, has called for full Government cooperation with the French probe.
“I have instructed the Education and Sports Minister to fully cooperate in the investigation,” he told Parliament today.
“Education and Sports Minister Hiroshi Hase told the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) and the former Bid Committee to cooperate in the investigation.”
