Tokyo rejects bribe claims over 2020 Olympics

Officials behind Tokyo’s successful bid to host the 2020 Olympics have denied paying a bribe of £1 million into a bank account linked to Papa Massata Diack, the son of the former IAAF President Lamine.

A report in The Guardian newspaper claimed the money had been paid into a Singaporean account tied to Diack Jr, but the Japanese government’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said today everything in their bid had been above board.

“I am confident that our bid was conducted in a clean manner,” said Suga.

His sentiments were echoed by Japan Olympic Committee spokesman Yasuhiro Nakamori, who added: “We have not been asked any questions by the IOC [International Olympic Committee] on this matter.”

The IOC has approached French authorities investigating alleged bribery and corruption by the Diacks about the latest revelations while Japanese officials said they were also willing to help in the French investigation.

Japan won the right to host the 2020 Olympics back in 2013, beating the other two bid cities, Istanbul and Madrid.