IOC Opens Probe Into Japanese Olympic Committee Chief After Bribe Claims

IOC Opens Probe Into Japanese Olympic Committee Chief After Bribe Claims

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Friday that it had opened an investigation into the corruption charges recently brought against its top official for Japan, Tsunekazu Takeda

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2019) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Friday that it had opened an investigation into the corruption charges recently brought against its top official for Japan, Tsunekazu Takeda.

French prosecutors reportedly indicted the 71-year-old president of the Japanese Olympic Committee earlier this week. Takeda is suspected of authorizing payments to advance Tokyo's bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.

"The IOC is 'partie civile' in this investigation and has been in close contact with the French judicial authorities. The IOC Ethics Commission has opened a file and will continue to monitor the situation - and is meeting today," the IOC said in a statement cited by insidethegames.biz.

The Tokyo bidding committee allegedly paid $1.5 million in 2016 to a Singaporean firm believed to have ties to Papa Massata Diack, the son of a former IAAF athletics association chief who had influence within the IOC.