Japan Press Weekly

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2022 August 17 - 23 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Former Tokyo Olympic executive arrested for bribery

Former board member of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Takahashi Haruyuki was arrested on August 17 for accepting a total of 51 million yen in bribes. Three executives of AOKI Holdings, a major business suit retailer, were arrested on suspicion of offering the bribes.

Members of the Organizing Committee are "quasi-government employees" and accepting cash or gifts from interested parties is a crime.

AOKI became an Olympic sponsor, selling the Game's officially-licensed products and producing uniforms for the Game's referees.

Sponsorship fees for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics totaled about 375 billion yen, the highest in Olympic history. It is necessary to reveal all suspicious movements of money.

Takahashi was also a figure suspected of having been involved in dubious contacts with IOC officials over Tokyo's bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games. Before Tokyo won the bid in 2013, Takahashi was entrusted with about 900 million yen (8.2 million U.S. dollars) from Tokyo's bidding committee and reportedly lobbied IOC officials.

Trampling upon the ideal of Olympism, the for-profit company pursued its business interests and allegedly engaged in behind-the-scenes deals with the Tokyo Olympics executive. Their actions deeply defamed the Olympics itself and led to a loss of public trust. The alleged corruption in the Tokyo Games, including in the bidding process, should be thoroughly investigated.