A former director of the organizing committee was arrested for accepting bribes from the major men's clothing company Aoki Holdings in relation to the sponsorship contract for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. I was told that I would be a sponsor if I could, so I introduced him to the executives of the organizing committee.”
After that, AOKI paid a sponsorship fee of about 500 million yen to become a tournament sponsor, and the special investigation department is investigating the details.
Haruyuki Takahashi (78), former director of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee, received a total of 51 million yen in bribes from three people, including Hironori Aoki (83), former chairman of AOKI Holdings, in connection with the sponsorship contract for the tournament. On the 17th, he was arrested by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on suspicion of accepting a bribe.
There were a total of 68 domestic sponsors for the Tokyo Games, divided into three ranks according to the amount of sponsorship.
The organizing committee does not disclose the amount of individual sponsorships received from sponsor companies, but according to people involved, AOKI paid about 500 million yen in 2018, becoming the third rank "official supporter." ” and signed a sponsorship contract.
Before his arrest, former director Takahashi explained to those around him, "When I approached AOKI, they said that if the amount was not high, they would sponsor me, so I introduced them to executives of the organizing committee."
The special investigation unit is believed to be investigating the details of the suspicion that the former director tried to accommodate AOKI's side from the stage of sponsor selection.
According to people involved, former director Takahashi denied any wrongdoing in the investigation before his arrest.