The series continues to bounce back and forth in Tokyo in the case of alleged corruption for the attribution of the 2020 Games. But, good news for the interest of the series, the characters follow one another at a good pace.
After Tsunekazu Takeda, the president of the Japanese Olympic committee, placed at the top of the credits all last week, today's episode focuses on another actor. It's huge. According to Associated Press, the French justice investigation is now very closely interested in the role and influence of the Japanese agency Dentsu, a global advertising and marketing giant.
To put it simply, let's say that without Dentsu's help, Tokyo 2020 would not be quite what it is, namely a machine for collecting private partnership contracts. To date, the organizing committee's marketing program includes 58 names. A record. It weighs 3 billion dollars. Another record.
Dentsu is the exclusive marketing agency for the Tokyo 2020 Games. Its contract dates back to spring 2014, less than a year after the IOC awarded the 2020 Summer Games to the Japanese capital. Almost superfluous clarification: Dentsu was already part of the Tokyo 2020 bid campaign.
According to AP, the name of Dentsu appeared in the French justice investigation when trying to trace the payments of $2 million authorized by Tsunekazu Takeda to the consulting company Black Tidings, based in Singapore , directed by Ian Tan Tong Han. As a reminder, Black Tidings is suspected of having served as an intermediary to pay Papa Massata Diack, one of the sons of Lamine Diack, former member of the IOC and former president of the IAAF.
Annoying detail: Dentsu is also under contract with the IAAF. It was when the organization was chaired by Lamine Doack. She still is today.
Question: Did Dentsu play a role in the alleged corruption case currently being investigated by French justice? The Japanese agency does not deny having supported the bid committee in its lobbying work. A Dentsu spokesperson explained to AP : « A number of consultants made presentations to the tender committee, after which the committee contacted Dentsu"
The Japanese agency would have recommended the company Black Tidings, ensuring that its boss, Ian Tan Tong Han, was “ an extremely competent Asian consultant”.
Asked about the relationship between Dentsu and the Diack family, the spokesperson for the Japanese agency is satisfied with the minimum: “ We have a contract with the IAAF, so we had the opportunity to meet its leaders in a professional setting.".
At this stage of the investigation, French justice refuses to confirm digging into the Dentsu trail. A spokesperson for the financial prosecutor’s office told AP that she was not authorized to speak about details of the investigation.
But several sources agree to suggest that Dentsu, ranked 5th among the world's advertising and marketing agencies, has historical influence in the Olympic movement. In Japan, she would even be untouchable. The Prime Minister's wife, Shinzo Abe, worked there for a while. Dentsu counts the Liberal Democratic Party, currently in power, among its clients.
