The Olympic Games, undeniably the most famous and anticipated sporting event in the world, had its credibility questioned in 1999 when allegations of bribery emerged. It turned out that Salt Lake City in Utah may have won the bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics by giving favors to IOC members and their families. The IOC expelled 10 of its members and imposed sanctions on others. The Salt Lake Organizing Committee and United States had their own investigations.
The scandal started a total overhaul of IOC rules and processes, among them the ban on IOC members visiting candidate cities and the formation of an independent committee who will decide on the host city. The committee will be composed of IOC members, athletes and representatives from the National Olympic Committee (NOC.)
And just when the Olympic movement had regained the people’s trust, another allegation of corruption has come up. French prosecutors, investigating the Russian doping scandal, expanded its probe to include payments made to ensure Japan’s winning of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The $2.2 million payments were found in a Singaporean company’s bank account, paid from a Japanese bank account. It was marked “Tokyo 2020 Olympic Bid.” The consulting company to whom the money was paid, Black Tidings, is controlled by Ian Tan Tong Han, a close friend of the son of Lamine Diack, disgraced International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ex-president. The elder Diack is under investigation by the French police for his involvement of the cover-up Russian athletes’ doping results. The son, Papa Massata Diack, once a marketing consultant for the IAAF, is also wanted in France for bribery and money laundering.
Sought for comment, Japan Olympic Committee head Tsunekazu Takeda confirmed the payments, saying they were legitimate consultancy fees. Bidding to be an Olympic host city is a complex process requiring skills and sophisticated methods. Consultants for planning and presentation, information services and analysis, and international promotions and communications were hired to help in the preparation of the bidding. Six cities originally submitted their bids to host the 2020 Games. Rome cancelled early, leaving Istanbul, Tokyo, Madrid, Doha and Qatar. In the final round, Tokyo won over Istanbul 60 – 36 in 2013 when the host city was announced in Buenos Aires. IOC members who belong to the candidate countries are not permitted to vote.
IOC Vice-President John Coates says he has no reason not to believe Takeda’s statement. The IOC will not conduct its own investigation but will remain open to the findings of the French magistrates and the Japan Olympic Committee. The JOC, concerned about the insinuations that will tarnish the country’s image, will conduct its own investigation, bringing in independent lawyers and an accountant. To avoid the presumption of bias, the investigation team has preempted suspicions of a whitewash by declaring that the probe will be comprehensive and impartial.
The French probe has not seen a direct connection of the money deposited to Black Tidings and Japan winning the 2020 Olympics bid. It is advancing on the premise that the Diacks accepted bribe money to hide the doping results and the senior Diack was an IOC member at the time the bid for the 2020 Games was awarded to Tokyo. The IAAF and Olympics are two separate entities in the sports industry. It is unfortunate for Japan that the Black Tidings account is suspected of being the conduit for the bribe money between Diack and the Russians. Thinking about it calmly, it is highly improbable story that any bribes are confidently and boldly bank-wired through the account “Tokyo 2020 Olympic Bid.”
IOC President Thomas Bach, when asked about probable corruption in the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics, defended the organization adding that it has all the necessary tools in place to fight corruption. He also cited their pro-active stance of seeking information but added that no evidence has surfaced thus far.
For the sake of the Olympics’ integrity which has already suffered a blow, payments that could be related to the bidding process should be probed deeper and the appropriate sanctions meted on guilty parties. But countries, like people, should be afforded the presumption of innocence unless totally and irrevocably proven otherwise. Suspicions of corruption must be examined and scrutinized objectively and fairly. If investigations lead nowhere, they should be stopped. There is no place for speculations and allegations of bribery and corruption in a just and neutral inquiry. The IOC too must make a formal statement clearing any country of wrongdoing if the accusations against it are unproven.
The IOC must be above suspicion if it is to remain attractive to cities and countries. It should prosecute violators of its policies and protect those who remain true to its principles.