The trio, made up of two lawyers and a certified public accountant but whose names have not yet revealed, will investigate a transaction from the Bid Committee totalling $2 million (£1.3 million/€1.7 million) which has allegedly-corrupt implications.

It is thought the payment was made in two installments in 2013 before Tokyo won the right to host the 2020 Olympics at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Buenos Aires.

The controversy has surfaced as Black Tidings has ties to Papa Massata Diack, son of disgraced former International Association of Athletics Federations President Lamine Diack.

French police are now studying the payments, made to Black Tidings head Ian Tan Tong Han, as part of their investigation into the disgraced Diack family, who are accused of using the same account to channel money received in return for covering up failed doping tests in athletics.

JOC President and IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda yesterday claimed the payment was deemed “necessary” by the Bid Committee.

He admitted he was the one to sign off on the transactions but denied any implications of wrongdoing, though he has refused to explain them in detail, claiming he is bound by confidentiality.

The JOC chief believes it was “done by the book” and was supposedly for consultancy work the company carried out.

An investigation is also being conducted by Tokyo 2020, which Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe has already vowed to fully co-operate with.

Abe was a staunch advocate of the Japanese capital securing the hosting rights for the Games and met with Diack and other key officials during the IOC Session in Buenos Aires in 2013 when Tokyo was announced as the 2020 host.

The IOC, keen to seen to be active in dealing with a problem which could represent the worst crisis since the Salt Lake City corruption scandal in 2002, have also insisted they will work alongside any investigation.

They claim they will “continue to work to shed light on the matter”.