A winning logo produced by designer Kenjiro Sano was selected earlier this year only to be scrapped following allegations of plagiarism.

It has now emerged that the first round of the original selection process was fixed to ensure all eight designers invited to the competition were automatically selected for the second round, Asahi Shimbun has reported.

Two officials, creative director Takuma Takasaki and marketing office head Hidetoshi Maki, have been accused of lobbying Kazumasa Nagai, head of the Judging Committee, in order to shore votes for two submissions that lacked enough support.

Both works were eliminated from contention in the second round.

No irregularities were discovered in the remainder of the process, the report found, although the revelations still raise questions of the transparency and integrity of the contest.

This all came before Sano's logo was scrapped in September because Belgian designer Olivier Debie claimed it resembled his Théâtre de Liège emblem.

The re-run selection process has been opened to all Japanese nationals over the age of 18 in a bid to boost interest and inclusivity.

Organisers have faced more criticism this week, however, after the American Institute of Graphic Arts criticsed its "speculative" nature.

They object to the competition as it is not offering proper professional fees and claim that a "remarkable" design can only be the result of a designer working directly with their client - something the contest renders impossible.

They also argue that opening the competition to non-professionals "disrespects" the design profession and that the cash prize of ¥1 million (£5,400/$8,200/€7,600) on offer to the winner is not enough for a logo which will be seen across the world millions of times.

Tokyo 2020 have since reiterated to insidethegames how they believe that "by implementing this open design competition they have been able to actively engage a large number of people in the delivery of the Tokyo 2020 Games".

Nearly 15,000 entries were received before the closing date on December 7, 12,900 from individuals and 1,699 group efforts.

That compared to only 104 entries which were accepted in the contest for the axed design.

The eventual winning designer will also be invited to the Opening Ceremonies of both the Olympics and Paralympics.