Japan sets up team to investigate Tokyo 2020 payments


The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) has set up an investigative team to see if there were any illegal payments made to a Singapore firm which have entangled Tokyo's winning 2020 Olympic bid in a bribery investigation.The three-man investigative team established yesterday consists of two Japanese lawyers and a certified accountant. JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda, who headed Tokyo's bid team, approved the payment of 2.8 million Singapore dollars ($2 million) to Black Tidings headed by Ian Tan Tong Han.Han is a close associate of Papa Massata Diack, the son of former IAAF President Lamine Diack, who is facing corruption charges in France. Tokyo defeated Istanbul 60-36 in the final round of the IOC voting. Madrid was eliminated on the first ballot.