There is only bad news coming from Japan for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shortly after the Summer Games in Paris. The tire manufacturer Bridgestone is the third Japanese company to end its several hundred million dollar commitment as an IOC sponsor of the highest category within around three weeks. The world’s second largest tire manufacturer, which is also leaving as a Paralympics partner at the end of the year after its contracts expire, is aiming to focus in the future on motorsport.Before Bridgestone, which advertised in Germany before Paris with long jump Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo and table tennis idol Timo Boll, the Japanese heavyweights Panasonic and Toyota had already left the IOC’s top program since mid-September.250 Millions of dollars paidThe electronics giant Panasonic terminated the partnership after 37 years due to “management considerations” to realign the use of funds. Toyota boss Akio Toyoda, on the other hand, explicitly justified the Olympic exit of the world’s largest automobile manufacturer with the “increasing politicization” of the Olympic movement and growing doubts about the role of the active participants as the focus of the games. With Bridgestone’s end to its Olympic campaign that began ten years ago Sponsorship initially increases the hole in the IOC coffers before the start of the cycle until the next Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2028. According to industry reports, the tire manufacturer paid between $200 and $250 million over the past four-year period. According to Japanese media reports, Toyota is said to have invested a total of $835 million in the cooperation with the IOC agreed in 2015. The J exit at the level of the largest IOC financiers is striking. Analysts attribute the exits of Nippon’s economic giants not least to the negative development of the Olympic image in Japan due to the corruption cases surrounding the 2021 Corona Summer Games in the capital Tokyo. Experts cite falling ratings in the USA, which is important for Japanese companies, as another reason.More on the topicThe departures of top domestic companies from the Olympic stage are also an indication of Japan’s expected reluctance to apply for future games. After Tokyo, the Asians withdrew their candidacy for the 2030 Winter Olympics in Sapporo last year due to a lack of support among the population.
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