Top Olympic sponsor Toyota pulls Games-related TV ads

Toyota president and CEO Akio Toyoda and IOC President Thomas Bach hail their deal in 2015 (AP)

Toyota will not be airing any Olympic-themed advertisements on Japanese television during the Tokyo Games, despite being one of the International Olympic Committee’s top corporate sponsors.

The extraordinary decision by the country’s top car maker underlines how polarising the Games have become in Japan as Covid-19 infections rise ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony.