(ATR) The IOC says it has been alerted to the inquiry by French police into a $1.5 million secret payment allegedly made by the bid from Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics.
"The IOC’s Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer will continue to be in contact with all interested parties to clarify any alleged improper conduct. The IOC will not comment any further on the elements of the investigations at this stage," says a statement from IOC headquarters in Lausanne.
Owen Gibson of The Guardian reports that French prosecutors are pursuing the details of the alleged payment from the bid in 2013 to an account in Singapore linked to Papa Masa Diack, son of the disgraced ex-president of athletics federation IAAF, Lamine Diack.
The payment was first revealed in a footnote last November within the report of an independent commission investigating the doping scandal involving Russian track and field athletes. The commission report accuses Diack of accepting bribes to keep silent on doping violations, allegations that French police have been investigating for the better part of a year. The footnote says that the payment from Tokyo was made after a Japanese company signed a sponsorship deal with the IAAF before the IOC vote on 2020 in September 2013.
While ethics officer Pâquerette Girard Zappelli may be leading the IOC inquiry, her office is not likely to take any actions until French authorities decide what to do.
With Lamine Diack gone from the IOC, no consequences are possible for him, his son or other associates now banned from the IAAF.
But if individuals in Japan are implicated who still have ties to the Olympics, such as posts with the Japanese Olympic Committee or its marketing arm, Dentsu, they could face IOC censure.
Tokyo 2020 maintains it knows nothing about the alleged payment.
In a statement sent to ATR, spokeswoman Hikariko Ono said:"The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee has no means of knowing these allegations. We believe that the Games were awarded to Tokyo because the city presented the best bid."
Tokyo 2020 said it hadnot been contacted by French investigators.
Written by Ed Hula.
Homepage photo: Getty Images
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Últimas Noticias
Utah’s Olympic venues an integral part of the equation as Salt Lake City seeks a Winter Games encore
Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation chief of sport development Luke Bodensteiner says there is a “real urgency to make this happen in 2030”. He discusses the mission of the non-profit organization, the legacy from the 2002 Winter Games and future ambitions.
IOC president tells Olympic Movement “we will again have safe and secure Olympic Games” in Beijing
Thomas Bach, in an open letter on Friday, also thanked stakeholders for their “unprecedented” efforts to make Tokyo 2020 a success despite the pandemic.
Boxing’s place in the Olympics remains in peril as IOC still unhappy with the state of AIBA’s reform efforts
The IOC says issues concerning governance, finance, and refereeing and judging must be sorted out to its satisfaction. AIBA says it’s confident that will happen and the federation will be reinstated.
IOC president details Olympic community efforts to get Afghans out of danger after Taliban return to power
Thomas Bach says the Afghanistan NOC remains under IOC recognition, noting that the current leadership was democratically elected in 2019. But he says the IOC will be monitoring what happens in the future. The story had been revealed on August 31 in an article by Miguel Hernandez in Around the Rings
North Korea suspended by IOC for failing to participate in Tokyo though its athletes could still take part in Beijing 2022
Playbooks for Beijing 2022 will ”most likely” be released in October, according to IOC President Thomas Bach.
