Japan's Olympic president to resign amid bribery probe

SEOUL, March 19 (UPI) -- The chief of Japan's Olympic Committee, currently suspected of bribery, is expected to resign this summer.

Tsunekazu Takeda, the president, may have paid off members of the International Olympic Committee, in order to secure Tokyo's bid for the 2020 Summer Games, NHK and Kyodo News reported Tuesday.

Takeda, who has claimed he is innocent, said he will resign from his post after he completes his term in June.

"I am very saddened to think [this incident] has caused an uproar," Takeda said Tuesday, referring to the allegations.

Takeda is being investigated in France, where he is suspected of paying more than $2 million to go toward bribes.

The payment was made to Black Tidings, a Singaporean firm with ties to Papa Massata Diack of Senegal, who is being sought by French authorities for helping manipulate past bids, including Rio de Janeiro's 2016 Summer Olympics bid, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Takeda is a former equestrian who participated in the 1972 Munich Olympics and the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He has been the president of Japan's Olympic Committee since 2001.

Olympic officials in Japan are concerned about the negative impact the charges of corruption could have on the 2020 Summer Games.

A JOC official who spoke to Kyodo on the condition of anonymity said the charges and the investigation could cast a cloud on the Tokyo Games.

Last year, members of the notorious Yakuza crime ring were arrested after they illegally mobilized homeless people to work at the Olympic site.