As the bribery scandal smolders around the International Olympic Committee, the heat is increasing for Osaka Olympic officials over allocations of city funds to various Games-related functions, including meetings with IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and payments to intermediaries for Osaka and various Japan Olympic Committee and IOC officials.
The Osaka Needs No Olympics Union, a group of about 300 citizens against the city's bid for the 2008 Games, said Wednesday it will formally question the city about how much it spent on food, gifts and entertainment when Samaranch met with Osaka Mayor Takafumi Isomura in May at Kansai International Airport.
The group will also request similar information about meetings between Samaranch and Isomura in Nagano last February, and again at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, in July. "We will ask how much the city spent and what exactly it spent the money on, as well as whether any gifts were exchanged," said Tatsuya Kimura, a local lawyer who heads the union. He said questions would be submitted by the end of January, because time is needed to prepare the exact wording.