TOKYO – The chairman of the organizing committee for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Yoshiro Mori, has decided to resign following the controversy generated by his sexist comments, local media reported on Thursday.
Mori has announced his decision to step down from people close to the organization after continued criticism he has been receiving since his speech last week came to light, according to sources close to the matter on the state network NHK.
The 83-year-old former Japanese prime minister spoke about the alleged inconveniences of the presence of women in meetings during a meeting of Japan’s Olympic Committee, comments that have caused a cascade of protests from the world of politics and of sport both inside and outside Japan.
“He had no intention of despising women,” Mori said last Thursday in statements to the Mainichi newspaper, when he also hinted at the possibility of resigning from the front of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee if people so demanded.