Tokyo, Jan. 15 -- Tsunekazu Takeda, the head of the Japanese Olympic Committee and a powerful IOC member, has denied corruption allegations against him concerning reported bribes paid to be awarded the rights to host the 2020 Olympics.

A French prosecutor is investigating Takeda, who is reportedly linked to about $2 million in payments in 2013 before and after the IOC picked Tokyo ahead of Madrid and Istanbul to stage the games.

The brewing scandal is a major blow to Tokyo's preparations, which IOC President Thomas Bach has called "the best" in Olympic history.

The Tokyo Olympics open in 18 months with Japan spending at least $20 billion to prepare.

At a packed news conference Tuesday at the JOC's office, Takeda said little in a brief...