Yoshiro Mori, the president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games organising committee on Friday resigned from his post after facing acute criticism over “inappropriate” remarks he made about women.
“As of today I will resign from the president’s position,” Yoshiro Mori said to open a meeting of the Olympic Committee’s executive board and council, adding that his “inappropriate statement has caused a lot of chaos.”
His statement left unclear who would succeed him.
Reacting to the news, Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said that the committee “fully respects President Mori’s decision to step down and understands his reasons for doing so,” adding that the IOC “will continue working hand-in-hand with his successor to deliver safe and secure Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in 2021.”
The 83-year-old former Japanese Prime Minister was quoted as saying that that female members of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) talk too much and that meetings with many female board directors would “take a lot of time”.
His comments sparked an outcry both at home and abroad and marked a fresh blow to the embattled games, already postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“What is important is to hold the Olympics from July. It must not be the case that my presence becomes an obstacle to that,” Mori added.
