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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Justin McCurry in Toyko

Tokyo Olympics bribery scandal threatens to derail Winter Games bid

People pose for a picture with the Olympic signage at the Sapporo Olympic Museum
People pose for a picture with the Olympic signage at the Sapporo Olympic Museum. The city is bidding for the 2030 Winter Games after previously hosting them in 1972. Photograph: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty Images

More than a year after the Tokyo Olympics were held in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, their legacy has been overshadowed by a bribery scandal that threatens to derail a bid by another Japanese city to host the Winter Games.

This summer, as officials in Sapporo, on Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, promoted their bid for the 2030 Games, police arrested Haruyuki Takahashi, a former Tokyo Olympics executive, on suspicion of taking bribes in return for helping companies become official sponsors for last year’s event.

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