Japanese Olympic Committee head resigns amid bribery scandal
TOKYO — Tsunekazu Takeda, the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee, is resigning amid a bribery scandal that investigators suspect helped Tokyo land next year's Olympics.
Takeda announced Tuesday he will stand down when his term ends in June, but he denied corruption allegations against him.
Takeda is also a powerful International Olympic Committee member and the head of its marketing commission. He holds the IOC spot by virtue of the Japanese presidency.
The scandal has cast a shadow over next year's Olympics and underlines flawed efforts by the IOC to clean up its bidding process. Japan is spending at least $20 billion to organize the games, which open July 24, 2020.
The organization of the last Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was chaotic from start to finish and ended eventually with the arrest of organizing committee president — and Brazilian Olympic Committee president — Carlos Nuzman in a similar vote-buying scandal.
The favorite to replace Takeda is Yasuhiro Yamashita, a judo gold medalist in the 1984 Olympics.
AP
Most Popular
- Verstappen promises Red Bull rally, as McLaren leads charge to Singapore
- Rashford bags brace as Barnsley gets battered 7-0
- Mbappe scores on Champions League debut for Madrid
- Kane fires four in 9-goal rout of Zagreb
- Hall of Famer O'Meara chooses Pebble Beach to call it quits
- Athletics legend Coe to vie with six rivals for IOC presidency