＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
Recently, it seems that there have been many reports of corruption cases by executives of international athletic organizations.
In this issue, I would like to consider this issue.
１．Allegations of bribery in the World Athletics Bid
On May 24, 2019, there was news that “French judicial authorities have opened an investigation into allegations of bribery surrounding the bid to host the World Championships in Athletics to be held in Doha this September.
The bribing party is Nasser Khelaifi, president of the French soccer team Paris Saint-Germain, who is from Qatar.
The two people suspected of bribery are Ramine Diack, former president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, and his son Papamassata. These two men are also suspected of bribery over the bid for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which we will discuss next.
２．Allegations of fraud in the bid to host the Olympics
On January 11, 2019, news came out that “French judicial authorities have begun proceedings to prosecute JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda for bribery in connection with Japan’s bid to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The president of the company with whom Japan concluded a “consulting contract” for the Olympic bid is a friend of the son of “former President of the International Association of Athletics Federations” (1999-2015) and “IOC Commissioner” Lamine Diack (1933- ), and about 230 million yen paid as a consulting fee was It is suspected that about 230 million yen paid as consulting fees went to Mr. Lamine Diac.
Mr. Lamine Diack is a Senegalese athlete who competed in the long jump in the 1950s. He is also suspected of “bribery” irregularities in the bid for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
３．FIFA fouling incident (2015)
FIFA President Zep Blatter (1936- ), President of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), has been effectively suspended from his duties after it was discovered that money manipulation and other organizational irregularities, fraud, and corruption were rampant within the Secretariat during his 17 years in office, from 1998 to 2015. He is also under investigation in connection with fraudulent expenditures in the 2015 FIFA corruption case.
These include concessions, demanding bribes, and money laundering and personal misappropriation of illicitly received money in connection with the FIFA World Cup bid and television rights.
Zep Blatter is a Swiss national who joined the FIFA Secretariat in 1975 and rose to the position of president with the backing of influential figures.
４．Allegations of graft by “IOC Commissioners”
Former International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Samaranch (1920-2010), a Spanish sports bureaucrat, held the IOC presidency for 21 years, from 1980 to 2001.
Until the 1970s, many cities were reluctant to host the Olympics because of the huge debt that hosting the Games would leave in the host city’s coffers, and IOC commissioners had great difficulty in finding host cities.
However, during his tenure, the “commercialization of the Olympics” progressed rapidly. This was especially true after the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Under such circumstances, “bribery battles” and “allegations of excessive hospitality” against IOC commissioners have often been pointed out.
It is suspected that some of the “IOC Commissioners” who are in a position to decide the host city of the Olympics may have received various gifts and benefits from “persons related to the candidate cities.
In the past, “officials of the candidate cities” were allowed to have direct contact with “IOC Commissioners,” but because of these allegations, only “agents (consulting companies)” are allowed to have direct contact with “IOC Commissioners.
As a result, “agents (consulting companies)” were allowed to conduct “lobbying activities” for both the Rio de Janeiro Olympics bid and the current Tokyo Olympics bid, and once again, the “bribery allegation” came up!
However, if one thinks about it, it is natural that money and goods flow where there are interests, as the story of Kira Kozukenosuke and Asano Takuminokami in Chushingura (The Treasury of the Loyal Retainers) shows.
Although the IOC commissioners may have been clever in their cover-ups in the past, it is more natural to assume that they received some kind of benefit from the officials of the candidate cities.
The IOC commissioners will then decide which city is better. If they recommend a bad city, such as “school officials taking bribes from low-performing candidates to admit them,” it will be “suspicious.
But if not, it could be “roundly profitable” by benefiting from all candidate cities, or “unfairly profiting from cities not recommended”.
Therefore, the problem this time was probably due to the benefit sharing of too large amounts of money.
I believe that if it becomes the case that hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games costs too much money and does not bring economic benefits in return, fewer cities will run for the games as they did until the 1970s, and the number of cities that extend hospitality to IOC commissioners will also decrease. I also think that would be desirable.
Ramine Diack, Zep Blatter, and Samaranch all held the presidency for more than 15 years.
As the British historian and thinker John Acton has pointed out, “Long-term positions of power are corrupt.