By YOSHINORI DOI/ Staff Writer
November 19, 2023 at 18:42 JST
Ishikawa Governor Hiroshi Hase speaks to reporters in Kanazawa on Nov. 18. (Yoshinori Doi)
KANAZAWA--The governor of Ishikawa Prefecture retracted remarks that Cabinet Secretariat “secret funds” were used to present gifts to members of the International Olympic Committee over Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
“They were statements based on facts that I had misunderstood, and I have fully retracted it,” Hiroshi Hase, who served as the head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s Tokyo Olympics bid headquarters, told reporters here Nov. 18.
He did not clarify the specific facts behind his remarks.
In a speech in Tokyo on Nov. 17, Hase said he was told by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, “Make sure you win (the bid),” “We will give you any amount of money” and “We have Cabinet Secretariat secret funds,” according to sources.
Hase said albums featuring photographs of IOC members from the years when they were active athletes were produced for about 100 people at a cost of 200,000 yen ($1,330) per album, the sources said.
Tokyo won its bid to host the sports extravaganza in 2013.
IOC members have the right to vote in deciding the host city.
After his remarks were reported, Hase issued a statement later Nov. 17 in which he retracted his comments, saying they were inappropriate and misleading.
The secret funds, sometimes called a “black box,” refer to money that the Cabinet can expend at its own discretion without disclosing the amount or how it was used.
On Nov. 18, Hase admitted that the reported remarks were part of his speech. He said he retracted the remarks after the education ministry pointed out his mistakes, adding that he had misconstrued the facts.
Asked which part of his remarks was based on his misunderstandings, Hase declined to comment on grounds the issue is related to the Olympic bid, and he has reported it to the Japan Sports Agency and the education ministry.
He also said: “We were engaged in bidding activities in accordance with the IOC’s code of ethics. This is all I have to say.”
Hase, a former professional wrestler, represented Japan in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in wrestling.
He became Ishikawa governor in 2022 after serving in both chambers of the Diet.
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