Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic sponsor company Aoki Holdings received over 50% discount on a sponsorship deal with the Games organizers, the Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th August, 2022) Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic sponsor company Aoki Holdings received over 50% discount on a sponsorship deal with the Games organizers, the Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday.
According to the media, the information about the deal appeared following the arrest of the former chairman of Aoki Holdings, Hironori Aoki, over a recent bribery case involving top Japanese Olympic officials.
Aoki Holdings paid only 500 million Yen ($3.7 million) for a sponsorship contract with the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, while the standard for such a deal was set at 1.5 billion yen ($11.1 million), the media said, citing sources. The agency added that the deal allowed the company to use the Olympic symbols for its business purposes and sell licensed Olympic products and merchandise.
Aoki was arrested on Wednesday along with the former head of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games' organizing committee, Haruyuki Takahashi and two other people in connection with the bribery case. According to Japanese media, Takahashi is suspected of receiving a bribe of 45 million yen ($334,590).
The Summer Olympics in Tokyo were scheduled for 2020, but were postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The games were mired in several controversies, and finally took place from July 23 to August 8, 2021, becoming the first in history to be held without spectators.
