TOKYO (AP) — IOC vice president John Coates has expressed concern over payments made to a Singapore firm which have entangled Tokyo's winning bid for the 2020 Olympics in a bribery investigation.
Leaders of Tokyo's bid have admitted making payments of 2.8 million Singapore dollars ($2 million) to a Singaporean firm headed by Ian Tan Tong Han, a close associate of Papa Massata Diack, the son of former IAAF President Lamine Diack, who is facing corruption charges in France.
Japanese Olympic Committee president Tsunekazu Takeda, who headed Tokyo's bid team, insists the payment was for legitimate consultancy work and not made with the anticipation that the money would lead to Diack.