Bach was supposed to travel to Japan on October 16 to attend an event commemorating the first anniversary of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympics.

However, the German official is not in a position to make the trip due to "scheduling reasons".

"The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 were an overwhelming success, despite unprecedented challenges imposed by the coronavirus pandemic," the IOC told insidethegames.

"The Games brought the world together at a time when it was needed the most, and created a strong legacy for their hosts.

 "The Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon and Thank You Tokyo! Festival and Commemorative Ceremony will honour those that made this success possible.

"Unfortunately, the IOC President Thomas Bach will not be able to attend those important events in person, due to scheduling reasons.

"The IOC and the Olympic Movement at large remain forever grateful to the people of Tokyo and Japan for making Tokyo 2020 a success."

Instead, Japanese IOC members Morinari Watanabe, Yasuhiro Yamashita and Yuki Ota will represent the global body.

Watanabe is also the President of the International Gymnastics Federation.

Yamashita is a former Olympic champion who won judo gold in the men’s open category at Los Angeles 1984.

Ota, meanwhile, is a men’s foil world champion fencer and also won silver medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Bach was in Japan last month to attended the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, who was the Prime Minister from December 2012 until September 2020, during which time Tokyo was awarded the Olympics and Paralympics

The German official was supposed to meet Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto during the visit to discuss the city’s bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics.

Akimoto, meanwhile, was supposed to travel to IOC headquarters in Lausanne last month to hold talks with Bach.  

But the visit was cancelled after the developing Tokyo 2020 bribery scandal, involving Haruyuki Takahashi, a prominent member of the Tokyo 2020 Executive Board, arrested on suspicion of receiving bribes.

Since the first arrest, the saga has taken multiple twists and turns with new names and companies accused of being involved in bribing.

In the beginning, prosecutors had claimed that Takahashi received ¥51 million (£315,000, $372,000, €370,000) from retailer and Olympic sponsor Aoki Holdings.

Daiko Advertising Inc has also been accused of paying Takahashi in return for favours for a client company.

Takahashi has also been accused of accepting "consulting fee" of JPY 70 million (£434,000/$499,000/€501,000) from another Games sponsor, the Kadokawa Corporation publishing company, according to Kyodo.  

Kyodo also reported that Sun Arrow Inc., the company responsible for selling Olympic and Paralympic mascots Miraitowa and Someity, are also involved in the developing case.