France's financial crimes office announced Friday that is investigating Tsunekazu Takeda, president of Japan's Olympic committee, for "active corruption" related to the bidding on the 2020 Tokyo Games, which begin in a little more than 18 months. Takeda has yet to be formally indicted on any charge, but a French judge has determined that there is enough evidence to consider him a "formal suspect," according to Reuters.
Le Monde reports that the magistrate overseeing a wide-ranging French investigation into sports corruption, Renaud Van Ruymbeke, suspects that the 2013 IOC vote that awarded Japan the 2020 Olympics was tainted by backroom deals involving payments to African IOC members, who then threw their support to the Japanese capital's bid.