With less than two months until the vote, which of the three candidate cities for the 2020 Games is leading the race? The submission of the report from the IOC Evaluation Commission on Tuesday June 25 will undoubtedly provide the beginnings of an answer. But for the moment, Tokyo believes it is in the lead. And says it. The English daily The Japan Times cites two internal sources at the Olympic institution, in its June 18 edition, ensuring hand on heart the position of favorite of the Asian city, against Istanbul and Madrid.

Unsurprisingly, these two IOC members speak on condition of anonymity. The first, presented as a “former” European, would have promised Japan a very close victory. The second, described as a highly influential leader with long experience on the Executive Board, predicts a success of Tokyo 2020 if his bid team does not make mistakes until the IOC General Assembly vote on September 7 in Buenos Aires.

Info or intox ? Both. Unlike its two rivals, the Japanese capital is reassuring about its ability to organize the Games without the slightest hitch. According to another member of the IOC, also “masked”, the lack of vision and concept of the Tokyo 2020 file, often pointed out as its main weakness, would today be largely compensated by the security guarantees offered by Japan.

But can we really take the word of Olympic leaders when it comes to predicting, under cover of anonymity, the result of a vote? Past elections have proven that the favorite rarely comes out on top at the polls. Distrust, therefore.