Takeo Hirata is the latest official linked to the Games to have to resign ©Getty Images

A special advisor to the Japanese Cabinet who led a department in charge of promoting Tokyo 2020 has been forced to resign after claims surfaced that he had accepted valuable golf lessons for free.

Takeo Hirata stepped down following a Bunshun Online report that he had used a Government vehicle to travel to the lessons which would have normally cost ¥4 million (£26,300/$36,500/€30,900).

Lessons took place at the Rizap Golf Branch in a district of Tokyo known for its nightlife.

Hirata led the Cabinet department in charge of promoting the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and also served as a special advisor to the Cabinet.

The Asahi Shimbun reports that Rizap was certified by the Cabinet Office section Hirata led as being involved in sports operations under a Government programme for health promotion.

However, section officials said certification was not something done arbitrarily and ruled out any direct connection between it and the golf lessons.

Opposition lawmakers who questioned section officials on August 11 were told that Hirata claimed to have paid the invoices that he received.

However, the officials also said that Hirata never gave a specific amount for how much he paid, per The Asahi Shimbun.

Now Hirata has resigned.

Yoshihide Suga re-appointed Takeo Hirata after becoming Prime Minister ©Getty Images
Yoshihide Suga re-appointed Takeo Hirata after becoming Prime Minister ©Getty Images

Hirata led the Cabinet Office section promoting the Olympics and Paralympics since it was set up in October 2013.

Hirata was named as a special adviser to the Cabinet in August 2013, when Shinzō Abe was Prime Minister, and Abe's successor Yoshihide Suga re-appointed Hirata after he took over last September.

Several officials linked to Tokyo 2020 have been forced to resign in recent months.

Yoshirō Mori, who was head of the Organising Committee, resigned in February following sexist remarks including saying that women talk too much in meetings.

In July, Kentaro Kobayashi was dismissed as director of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies over a skit where he made jokes about Holocaust victims.

That same month, composer Keigo Oyamada was also cut from Games Ceremonies after his boatsful claims about abusing disabled children while at school resurfaced.

And before that, creative director Hiroshi Sasakim stepped down in March after suggesting that a plus-size female entertainer dress up like a pig for an "Olympig" performance.