Crime & Courts

Seiko Hashimoto Takes Olympic Bid Rigging Allegations ‘Seriously’

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Seiko Hashimoto, then president of the Tokyo Games organizing committee, speaks at a press conference in Tokyo in June last year.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:39 JST, February 10, 2023

Seiko Hashimoto, who served as president of the Tokyo Games organizing committee, said she takes bid rigging allegations related to the event — which resulted in several arrests this week — “seriously.”

“While the whole country was involved in the efforts to hold the Games, such [underhanded] practices have been revealed among some people. I take this seriously,” Hashimoto, a House of Councillors lawmaker, said Thursday during an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun and other media.

Following the revelation of the scandal, the Japanese Olympic Committee and the Japan Sports Agency, among other entities, have been considering guidelines for the governance of bodies that organize sporting events.

Citing the move, Hashimoto said: “We will correct what needs to be corrected. We must reflect on the matter and apply fresh discipline [to future events].”