adminTOKYO. — Japan’s Olympic chief yesterday insisted $2 million in payments were “legitimate” after French prosecutors launched a probe, suspecting they were aimed at winning support for Tokyo’s successful bid to host the 2020 Games.
Japanese Olympic Committee president Tsunakazu Takeda, who led Tokyo’s bid, said the payments were for consulting work and did not raise suspicions among the campaign team at the time.
“We would like to reaffirm that the Olympic Games 2020 were awarded to Tokyo as the result of a fair competition and as a result of the contents of our bid,” Takeda said in a statement.
“The payments mentioned in the media were a legitimate consultant’s fee.”
The payments to a bank account in Singapore were first revealed by Britain’s Guardian newspaper, and prompted French prosecutors to launch a probe on Thursday. Sources told AFP that investigators suspected the money was aimed at helping Tokyo secure the 2020 Games. — AFP.
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