At a traditional Coordination Commission dinner, members were served with food produced from three prefectures affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, with the event specially arranged by Tokyo 2020.

Governors of each of the prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate were among those present, with the three areas devastated by the earthquake and ensuing tsunami, which killed around 16,000 people.

For the vast majority one name stands out more than the rest - that of Fukushima.

The name is immediately recognisable, given the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant following the 2011 disaster. The recognition of its name is often followed by the statement that it is home to the most serious nuclear incident since the 1986 Chernobyl crisis.

That is quite a label to shake off your back, particularly given it is an area in which agriculture and marine produce is important.

Naturally, it became quite clear there was a serious purpose to this dinner, which is not always the case. Some tend to enrich the idea of the IOC needing to be wined and dined.

The prefectures were keen to encourage officials to sample their produce, from a reception at the start of the evening through to the actual dinner itself. The media were also encouraged to taste their wares, with a variety of fish, meat and saké available to try. I must add, I can recommend the Fukushima saké and peaches.

Numerous countries opted to ban importing food products from the affected areas due to fears of potential contamination, but several have recently eased their restrictions. Every opportunity to have high profile individuals or organisations back their products is a welcome one. Boris Johnson, Britain's Foreign Secretary, was shown to be sampling peaches from the region just two days ago. In fact, earlier this year, exports of peaches were claimed to be at higher levels than before the disaster.

The presence of the IOC was another opportunity to highlight the safety of products. Masayoshi Yoshino, the Reconstruction Agency Minister, noted the importance of the IOC in helping to support the recovery efforts in the areas impacted by the disaster.

"Let me thank all of you gathered here for your fantastic support of the reconstruction efforts, after the East Japan earthquake and tsunami," he said. "I would like to render my heartfelt appreciation to all of you."

While the IOC do get a fair amount of stick, it is also fair to say that the organisation is important when it comes to generating headlines which can help countries. Tokyo 2020 and Japan have been able to utlise the Olympic and Paralympic Games to highlight regeneration efforts. Without the Games, would they be able to shine as much of an international spotlight on the progress?

It is debateable. But when the Games come around, there is sure to be much made of Fukushima staging some baseball and softball events. The Torch Relay, one suspects, will almost certainly head through the areas to draw further attention to a recovered Japan.

John Coates, the chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission, also noted the significance associated with the dinner and the organisation's small part to play by highlighting the recovery efforts being made.

"We have had some very pleasurable welcomes and lovely dinners while we have been coming here," said Coates. "There clearly have not been any as significant. To share an evening with the three Governors of the most affected areas by the tsunami, we sincerely thank them for being here and sharing with us the fruits of the reconstruction in your prefectures.

"We share a particular affection with you. We hope the power of sport, the Olympics and Paralympics, provides your people and particularly your children with inspiration as the recovery continues from 2011."

All in all, everyone came out well publicly. Until a self-inflicted act.

There are very few times that singing "happy birthday" in public could be considered an inappropriate act, but this time around it was completely inappropriate.

Tokyo 2020 President Yoshirō Mori invited gathered officials to stand and sing happy birthday to the Commission's vice-chair Alex Gilady, whose 75th birthday had actually been four days earlier. This was not the inappropriate part, it was that there are currently harassment claims lingering over the Israeli.

The official has been accused of harassment by two female journalists in the 1990s. Neri Livneh has accused him of exposing himself and propositioning her during a work meeting relating to his role as President of Keshet Broadcasting Group in 1999. Oshrat Kotler has claimed to have received an "indecent proposal" from Gilady 25-years-ago. He has not denied details of the first two allegations but insisted there was "no intention to cause any harm".

Israeli newspaper Haaretz has also published anonymous rape allegations from three other women in the 1970s and 1990s, which has led to Gilady threatening legal action against these three "false allegations".

Given this background, regardless of the outcome of any future legal cases, it seemed fairly staggering that a whole room was stood up celebrating the official.

It is fair to point out that this was instigated by Mori, who at best could be described as being ignorant of the situation surrounding the "Weinstein effect" - the flood of claims against several high profile men after the allegations against American film producer Harvey Weinstein - which appears to have had more of an impact in the Western world.

However, one can easily argue that Mori should not have even been put into the situation where he could lead such a tribute.

Coates was correct to point out in the final press conference of the Commission visit that Gilady has strongly denied the allegations against him and is entitled to due process. I do not think anyone disagrees with this. However, the idea that there was "no basis" for the Israeli to be present does puzzle me. One also wonders how other members of the Commission felt about it,

When I queried it to one IOC official, I was met with the response "well, he is not suspended".

That is all very well, but given that Gilady has temporarily stood-down from his Keshet position due to the allegations, it seems contradictory that this has not also applied to his IOC roles. Surely you either temporarily stand down from all roles or you step down from none. A halfway house does make any great sense.

I can understand that the IOC want to show loyalty and nothing has been proven. However, has that stopped the entertainment industry in the United States from responding to claims made against several of their stars? Several major names in the industry have had their projects cancelled or lost roles, with some television shows forced into drastic rewrites and some films seeking to re-shoot scenes which contain people facing accusations.

The impact would appear to be far greater than it would have been if Gilady had missed the Coordination Commission visit. Given there are 17 members of the Commission in the first place, would him missing one really be the end of the world? Two members were also absent, with one excused to chair a Commission looking at how to finalise rules and regulations for the participation of Russian athletes at Pyeongchang 2018.

It seems to me an obvious course of action for someone at the IOC to have told Gilady not to attend and let legal proceedings play out, with the opportunity to return if nothing comes from them. Rather than showing support for the official, his attendance made him one of the talking points of the week. It was also worth noting that while he was present for the closing press conference in June, he was absent at last week's. It is not as if he and other officials were unaware this could have been an issue.

Had he not attended, his absence would have been a mere footnote in pieces written from the IOC visit, with stories instead focusing on the impressive progress made by Tokyo 2020 in construction of venues, the efforts by the IOC to help reduce costs and the work to engage with youth as part of the mascot voting process.

Instead, the two members of the international press who requested questions - myself being one - were focusing on the presence of Gilady rather than the progress of Tokyo. Rather than enjoying a simple and straightforward week, the IOC allowed Gilady to become a story. Just through being there. 

Given that the organisation has taken a bashing over recent months for their handling of the Russian doping scandal and the corruption allegations surrounding Rio 2016 - which led to Carlos Nuzman being removed from the Tokyo 2020 Coordination Commission - you would think they would go out of their way to avoid the potential for any further damaging headlines.

At a time when harassment has been a major issue worldwide, not least in sport where the scandal at USA Gymnastics has been laid bare in recent months, there just seemed to be a lack of awareness from the IOC on the potential public perception.

The most unnecessary of own goals.