Yasuo Mori, former head of the organization of the Tokyo Olympics, and three other people, were arrested on Wednesday in Japan in a case of rigged tenders, a new twist in the series of scandals linked to this competition . The four men are accused of having rigged a series of tenders representing a total amount of 40 billion yen (285 million euros) for the organization of Olympic events, local media reported.
Between February and July 2018, they “limited free competition” in connection with the planning of Olympic test events, “against public interests”, details the press release from the prosecutors. Those arrested on Wednesday decided in advance which company would win a contract and “agreed that only the chosen company [à l’avance] to win the contract had to participate” in each call for tenders, the statement added.
Other suspicions of corruption
The Japanese advertising giant Dentsu, employer of one of those arrested, “takes this situation very seriously” and will “fully cooperate with the authorities”, reacted the group in a statement sent to AFP. Dentsu added that it intends to conduct its own investigation into the matter and “take rigorous measures to restore the confidence” of its shareholders.
Prosecutors are also investigating suspicions of corruption around the Tokyo Olympics, of which another former manager (and ex-executive at Dentsu), Haruyuki Takahashi, is accused of having received the equivalent of several hundred thousand euros. bribes, in particular for the awarding of advertising contracts.
Sapporo’s candidacy for the 2030 Olympics undermined
This massive scandal has tarnished the city of Sapporo’s bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics. Sapporo has thus halted promotional events and plans to survey the Japanese population to gauge the popularity of its bid.
Suspicions of corruption have also long floated over the conditions for awarding Tokyo-2020, the Olympic Games which finally took place in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In March 2019, the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee Tsunekazu Takeda resigned a few months after being indicted by French justice. Takeda is suspected of having remunerated Black Tidings, a company based in Singapore and described as an “empty shell” by French investigators, before and after the designation of the Japanese capital by the International Olympic Committee.