Japanese Olympic president indicted in France for corruption

Tsunekazu Takeda, president of the Japan Olympic Committee and chair of the IOC marketing commission has been put under formal investigation for ‘active corruption’ by the National Financial Prosecutor’s office in Paris that is investigating corruption in relation to, among other things, the awarding of the 2020 Olympics hosting rights, wrote Le Monde today.

According to the French paper, Takeda is being questioned about having authorised two money wires totaling 1,8 million euro to the Singapore-based company Black Tidings. These payments are suspected to be bribes securing African votes for the Tokyo bid. Black Tidings has links to former IAAF president Lamine Diack, who is currently also under investigation for corruption-related cases by the French prosecutors.

“The IOC ethics commission has opened a file and will continue to monitor the situation,” said an IOC statement about the Takeda investigation according to AP.  “Mr. Takeda continues to enjoy the full presumption of innocence.”

In 2016, the Japanese Olympic Committee commissioned an independent investigation panel to investigate the alleged bribes. The investigation concluded that the payments were not a bribe.