The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has shifted its focus to India and the Middle East for sponsorship after a fallout with Japanese giants Toyota, Panasonic, and Bridgestone.

Japanese sponsors have decided to turn away from the Olympic governing committee due to the situation caused by the postponement of the ‘Covid-19 pandemic-hit’ Tokyo 2020.

The ’empty stadiums’ rule, increased costs of traveling and transportation, reduced the sponsors’ visibility for the future, with countless numbers of corruption scandals unearthing around the Games.

Toyota, Panasonic, and Bridgestone are among the top 15 IOC sponsors and paid more than $2 billion in the last four years Olympic cycle.

Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Akio Toyoda said that the IOC’s vision didn’t match their goals during a meeting at the US dealership. The automaker had confirmed that it would not renew its sponsorship after Paris 2024.

“Honestly, I’m not sure they (IOC) are truly focused on putting people first. For me, the Olympics should simply be about watching athletes from all walks of life with all types of challenges achieve their impossible,” Toyoda said in English.

Toyoda will continue to support the Olympic and Paralympic athletes financially.

IOC’s contract with Toyota was the largest at $835 million, when announced in 2015, beginning with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games.

Currently, ABInBev, Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyota, and Visa, are among the top sponsors of the IOC.

Bridgestone Corp., the tiremaking conglomerate, said that it will not be renewing the contract with IOC after it ends this year.

“The decision comes after an evaluation of the company’s evolving corporate brand strategy and its recommitment to more endemic global motorsports platforms,” the Tokyo-based company said in a statement.

Electronic giants Panasonic did not give a reason of terminating the contract after a “reviews how sponsorship should evolve” meeting.