Olympics & Paralympics

Tokyo Games committee to be completely terminated in March

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Investigators carry out cardboard boxes from a Tokyo metropolitan government building that houses the liquidating corporation for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee in July 2022.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:00 JST, January 2, 2023

A liquidating corporation that has taken over the operations of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee is likely to complete its operations in March, leading to the complete termination of the committee, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

The committee was disbanded at the end of June last year.

A former executive board member for the committee was indicted on charges of accepting bribes, and allegations of bid-rigging for contracts to plan test events for the Games have also emerged.

The complete dissolution of the committee before investigators uncover the full picture of the Games-linked corruption and bid-rigging scandals is likely to invite criticism.

About 20 employees of the liquidating corporation, based in the Tokyo metropolitan government building, have been responsible for paying debts that were put off until July 2022 or later, and for checking the progress on restoring areas used for temporary facilities to their original state, among other work. At the time of the disbandment of the organizing committee in June, the corporation was to be in operation for about one year, but according to sources, it will be disbanded after nine months because there have been no prolonged lawsuits or other such issues.

The official day for the corporation to complete its operations will be decided by the organizing committee’s board of trustees.

The remaining assets of the committee will be handed over to the Tokyo metropolitan government and the Japanese Olympic Committee. Documents within their retention period will be managed by the liquidators.

The liquidating corporation, also searched by the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office following the scandals, has not conducted its own review of the matter such as by setting up a third-party committee. “The corporation has been created to carry out liquidation procedures, and is not sufficiently staffed with personnel to conduct a review,” a corporate representative said.