By DPA
Tokyo : Tokyo was unshaken by a warning it received from the International Olympic Committee for violating bidding rules to host the 2016 Summer Games.
Japan’s capital has received the lowest-level warning in a written statement from the international body in December for asking a rival city committee in Brazil its reasons for bidding, Japanese media said.
“Nothing was done that goes beyond social norms,” Tokyo Olympics campaign chief Ichiro Kono was quoted as saying. “We want to keep our bidding process on track.”
Japanese diplomats in Brazil are accused of visiting Brazilian Olympic Committee president Carlos Arthur Nuzman and asking why Rio de Janeiro is bidding to host the Olympics only two years after the South American nation is to host the World Cup football finals.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) demanded that seven cities in the bidding remain objective and respect the other candidates.
The Brazilian committee informed the IOC of Japan’s misbehaviour.
“We humbly accept this warning, but I doubt it will affect our bidding activities,” Kono said.