Japan Press Weekly

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2019 January 16 - 22 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP Tokyo demands investigation into scandal involving JOC chief

President of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) Takeda Tsunekazu is being investigated by French judicial authorities on a bribery charge.

The Japanese Communist Party members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on January 15 made a representation to Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko, demanding that an allegation of corruption in connection with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics be immediately investigated and that the findings be made public.

In addition, the 18-member JCP group said that the host city of Tokyo should urge both the Organizing Committee of the 2020 Summer Games and the JOC themselves to make efforts to uncover the truth.

JCP assemblyperson Azegami Miwako noted that to resolve the allegation is essential to the success of Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.

According to the French media, French investigations actually started three years ago on suspicion of Takeda's backroom deals to gain support for Tokyo's bid to host the 2020 Games from senior members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Before and after the IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September 2013 when Tokyo won the bid, the Japanese bid committee paid 220 million yen to a Singaporean consulting firm. This company has close ties with a son of an influential IOC member.