Japan promises cooperation in French Olympic bid probe
May 16, 2016
Japan's prime minister has pledged to cooperate with French investigators on a probe into an improper Olympic bid payment. Tokyo has been selected to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Dedert
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On Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his country would cooperate fully with French investigators looking into a payment that allegedly helped Tokyo secure their successful bid for the 2020 summer Olympics.
"Education and Sports Minister Hiroshi Hase told the Japanese Olympic Committee and the former bid committee to cooperate in the investigation," Abe was quoted by Jiji Press as saying in a speech to lawmakers.
At issue is a payment of $2 million (1.8 million euros), transferred through a bank in Singapore, to a company associated with Papa Massata Diack, the son of former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) head Lamine Diack.
At the time of the Olympic bid in 2013, the elder Diack was an Olympic Committee member. Both men are under investigation on corruption charges in France relating to a doping cover-up of Russian track athletes, and the allegations regarding the Tokyo bid came to light as part of that investigation.
The head of the Japanese Olympic Committee, Tsunekazu Takeda, has said the payments to the company Black Tidings were for consulting services, and "were in our opinion proper and adequate for the services provided and gave no cause for suspicion at the time."
Papa Massata Diack has denied being involved in securing the 2020 Olympic bid for Tokyo.
Tokyo celebrates the Olympics
Celebrations broke out in the Japanese capital after winning the race to host the 2020 Olympic Games. Tokyo was able to allay concerns about the leakage of radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Image: Getty Images
'We did it, we did it!'
Celebration in the Japanese capital: Tokyo won the rights to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games after defeating fellow bidder Istanbul 60 to 36 votes in a second round of secret voting. Madrid, the other city competing to host the XXXII Olympiad, had been surprisingly eliminated in the first round of voting.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
Tears of joy
The decision was also met with elation by the Japanese Olympic delegation in Buenos Aires. After wiping off tears of joy, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who flew to the Argentinian capital from the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, said: "By hosting the 2020 Tokyo Games, we will create hope."
Image: picture alliance/dpa
'Compact' Games
Tokyo has promised 'compact Games' for athletes, fans and journalists, with 85 percent of the Olympic venues located only eight kilometers away from the Olympic Village, and hence in the heart of the city.
Image: tokyo2020.jp
Olympic stadium or UFO?
"Discover tomorrow" is the slogan of the 2020 Games. Future-oriented is also design of the Olympic Stadium by the Iraqi-British star architect Zaha Hadid, which is now set to be realized.
Image: Tokyo.jp
17,000 beds for the athletes
So far, the Olympic Village only exists on paper, or to be exact, in pixels. This graphic shows the concept of the organizers: The 44-hectare village complex is to be constructed in the vicinity of the Ginza shopping and entertainment district and house some 17,000 beds.
Image: tokyo2020.jp
The radiation problem
The current crisis at the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima nearly cost Tokyo the Games. On election day, PM Abe had to reassure the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the situation was under control. Fukushima lies some 225 kilometers (140 miles) north of the Japanese capital.
Image: Reuters/Tokyo Electric Power Co
A megacity
Tokyo is more than just a city, it is rather a country, considering that it is home to some nine million people, according to the latest population census. About 35 million people reside in the larger metropolitan area. This is only made possible through the city's numerous skyscrapers.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Masters in organization
In almost no other city on Earth are there so many people on the move as in Tokyo. The megacity has been praised for having a good transport network which is put to the test daily by millions of traffic participants. Around 80 percent of the people in the Japanese capital use trains such as this one transiting on the Yurikamome line.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Remembering 1964
Tokyo's first Olympic Games were held in 1964, after being canceled in 1940 due to WWII. 5151 athletes from 93 countries took part in the event, which was opened by Emperor Hirohito.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The Games return
The Olympic Flame is coming back to Tokyo. Yoshinori Sakai, born in Hiroshima on the day the atomic bomb was dropped on the city, lit the flame in 1964, sending out a message for world peace.
