French judges extend probe to voting process of Rio, Tokyo bids

French judges investigating corruption in athletics have extended their inquiry to look into the bidding and voting processes for the hosting of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, according to France's financial prosecutor.

With the Rio Games only five months away, the news opens up the possibility of the Olympics now being dragged into the scandal which has been rocking its premier sport of athletics.

"We are looking at these elements, but at this stage it is a question of verification. Nothing has been proved," an official from the prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.

In response, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it would act on any evidence the prosecutors provided about how the bid processes for the Rio and Tokyo Games were conducted.

Until now, allegations of corruption involving senior officials of the world governing body of athletics, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), have been focused mainly on events organised by the IAAF, which has no say in the awarding of Olympic hosting rights.

The French investigation was opened in December in response to media reports that questioned the way the IAAF awarded its 2021 world championships to the US city of Eugene.

Yet the prospect of the investigation being widened to look at the Olympics bidding too was raised in January when a World Anti-Doping Agency independent commission report alleged the involvement of former IAAF President Lamine Diack, who is already being investigated by French authorities.

The WADA commission report suggested up to $5 million of sponsorship money may have been a factor in swaying the vote of Diack to vote for Tokyo rather than Istanbul, which declined to pay the money. Tokyo 2020 organisers in January denied that, saying any reference in the WADA report was "beyond our understanding" as the city presented the best bid.

Diack's family has called the allegations against him "excessive and insignificant".Of the French prosecutor's involvement, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: "When we get evidence we have shown we will act on it. It is an easy thing to talk about, but no one has any evidence... At the moment there is nothing to act on."

"The IOC has been in close contact with the French prosecutors since the beginning of this investigation last year," the IOC said in a statement.

"The IOC's chief ethics and compliance officer had already asked for the IOC to be fully informed in a timely manner of all issues that may refer to Olympic matters and has already applied to become a party to the investigations led by the French judicial authorities."