French prosecutors investigating corruption allegations against the former head of world athletics have expanded their probe to examine the bidding for the Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Games, a judicial source said.
“We are at the verification stage” to establish whether there has been any wrongdoing, the source, who revealed the inquiry began in December last year, said on Tuesday.
An International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman in Lausanne, Switzerland, said that “so far, there is no evidence” and that the committee “will remain in close contact with French justice” over the case.
The inquiry is part of a wider investigation into former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Lamine Diack and his son, Papa Massata Diack.
The 82-year-old Lamine Diack, who headed the IAAF for 15 years, faces criminal charges in France over allegations that he took more than 1 million euros (US$1.1 million) in bribes from Russian athletes and officials to cover up failed drug tests.
He has been charged with corruption, money laundering and conspiracy and is out on bail.
Paris prosecutors are also seeking Papa Massata Diack, one of his 15 children, who is the subject of an Interpol international alert on charges of blackmailing athletes who failed drug tests.
According to Britain’s Guardian newspaper, which first exposed the allegations, Lamine Diack and Papa Massata Diack served as intermediaries between the two Olympic host cities and some IOC members.
Lamine Diack had initially backed Istanbul’s bid for the 2020 Games, but is believed to have changed his mind when a Japanese sponsor signed a contract with the IAAF.
Papa Massata Diack had worked for Qatar to host the 2016 Olympics, which are being held in Brazil in August.
A former marketing consultant for the IAAF, Papa Massata Diack on Jan. 7 was banned for life by the IAAF ethics commission over the corruption allegations and is the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by France.
In an interview last month with French sports paper L’Equipe, he said the case against his father was “the biggest lie in the history of world sport.”
Rio was awarded the Olympics in 2009, while Tokyo won its bid in 2013.
“Rio won the Games because it had the best project,” the Rio Olympics organizing committee said.
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