--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 3
EDITORIAL: Report on probe into Tokyo’s Olympic bid far from convincing
（社説）ＪＯＣ報告書　納得にはほど遠い

The Japanese Olympic Committee obviously faced some tough challenges in its investigation into the Tokyo Olympic bid committee’s dubious cash payments to a consulting company. But that doesn’t justify the JOC’s failure to produce a convincing report on the matter.
The JOC’s investigative team on Sept. 1 published a report on its probe into the bid committee’s payments totaling 230 million yen ($2,2 million) to a Singapore-based consulting firm.
It said the cash payments were not illegal and that the bid committee had no intention of resorting to bribery or other illegal acts.
調査が難航したのはわかる。だとしても、これで人々の理解を得られるとは思えない。
２０２０年東京五輪・パラリンピック招致の際にシンガポールのコンサルタント会社に２億３千万円が支払われた問題で、日本オリンピック委員会（ＪＯＣ）の調査チームが報告書を公表した。日本側に買収などの意図はなく、違法性はなかったという内容である。

But the report failed to make clear how the money paid by the bid committee was actually used. The investigative team contacted a number of foreign figures suspected to be linked to the consulting company. They included Lamine Diack, a former International Association of Athletics Federation president who was then a member of the International Olympic Committee. Diak was in a position to influence the vote to decide the host.
His son Papa Massata Diack, who had close ties with the consulting firm, is also under the spotlight. But neither of them offered to cooperate with the JOC for the investigation, according to the report.
だが２億円余の使い道は明らかになっていない。当時、開催都市決定の投票に影響力を持つ国際オリンピック委員会（ＩＯＣ）委員だった国際陸連前会長や、コンサルタント会社と関係があったとされるその息子にもアプローチしたが、協力は得られなかったという。

The conclusion of the inquiry team was based almost entirely on remarks made by Japanese officials involved. It is far from a clear and complete picture of what transpired.
ほぼ日本側関係者からの聞き取りに頼った結論で、全容解明にほど遠い。

Since French prosecutors have also been looking into the matter, new developments could arise.
この問題は、フランスの検察当局が捜査を続けており、状況によっては新たな局面を迎える可能性もある。

The probe has shed some light on the opaque nature of people who work as "consultants" in the international sports arena as well as on the bid committee’s slipshod approach to selecting consultants it hires.
今回浮き彫りになったのは、コンサルタントといわれる人たちの活動の不透明さであり、それを選び、契約する招致委側の管理態勢の甘さである。

Senior officials of the bid committee had no independent information about the Singapore-based firm. The committee paid a large amount of money to the company it knew little or nothing about based on the advice of Dentsu Inc., Japan’s leading ad agency, which has been involved in marketing operations in the international sports community.
招致委幹部は、問題のシンガポールの会社について独自に情報を持っていなかった。国際スポーツ界でマーケティング活動をする電通の勧めがあったとはいえ、そのような相手に巨額の金を支払った。

The bid committee for the 2020 Olympics hired 11 consulting companies, including the Singapore-based one. The committee that represented Tokyo’s unsuccessful bid to host the 2016 Summer Games, which were granted to Rio de Janeiro, struck deals with some 30 consulting businesses.
２０年招致ではこの会社を含めて１１の、リオデジャネイロに敗れた１６年招致のときは約３０のコンサルタントと契約を交わした。

There are no market rates for fees to be paid to such companies, and deals are often done at the prices asked by the firms. The Japanese bid committee for the 2020 Games paid more than 1.1 billion yen in consulting fees.
契約料に相場はなく、先方の言い値になることが多いといわれる。２０年招致では計１１億数千万円が支出されている。

Only a small number of senior officials of the committee were aware of what roles the consultancies were playing and the kind of work in which they were engaged.
契約したコンサルタントがどんな役割を担い、どんな仕事をしているかは、一部の幹部しか把握していなかったという。

The ways bidding cities contact with IOC members are limited, which make it virtually impossible for a city to host Olympics without the help of consultants. Even so, senior officials of the bid committee are at least responsible for making careful and conscientious decisions on whether the service offered by a specific consultancy is worth the cost.
立候補都市がＩＯＣ委員と接触する方法が限られ、コンサルタントなくしては五輪を呼べないという現実があるとはいえ、出費に見合う契約かどうか、慎重に判断する自覚と責任が招致委幹部にはある。

As a first step in the reform of bids for Olympics, the IOC, starting with the 2024 Games, will require bidding cities to register the consultants they hire and disclose the information about the consultants working for the cities. In addition, the IOC has also decided to require consultants to declare they will abide by the rules concerning Olympic bids.
ＩＯＣは２４年五輪招致から、契約するコンサルタントの登録を義務づけたうえで公開し、コンサルタントには招致ルールの順守を宣言することを課す。改革の一歩といえる。

Many questions have been raised about the huge costs involved in trying to host the Olympics and actually holding the events.
五輪は招致や開催費用の高騰が疑問視されている。

Still, there’s high level of social interest in the Olympics, with people around the world eagerly awaiting these events.
それでも社会の関心は高く、大会を心待ちにする人は多い。

Currently, the race to host the Olympics is determined to a large extent by people working behind the scenes.
その行方が、見えないところで見えない人たちによって左右される。

If this situation continues, the Olympics will eventually lose their luster.
こんなことを続けていては、やがて輝きは失われてしまう。