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Tokyo 2020 President Mori to resign over sexist comments

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Yoshiro Mori. — AP

Yoshiro Mori. — AP

Tokyo - Fuji News Network reports Olympics organising committee president Yoshiro Mori will step down

Published: Thu 11 Feb 2021, 7:38 AM

  • By
  • Reuters

Yoshiro Mori, president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organising committee, is set to step down over sexist remarks he made that women talked too much, the Fuji News Network reported on Thursday.

The comments, made at a Japanese Olympic Committee board meeting in the first week of February, set off a firestorm at home and abroad and could become the latest obstacle to the 2020 Summer Games, already postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

At a hastily called news conference on February 4, Mori, 83, retracted his remarks and said they were “inappropriate” and against the Olympic spirit, but he declined, at that point, to resign.

A former prime minister whose tenure was marred by gaffes and blunders, Mori’s comments drew sharp comments on social media and in parliament, with opposition lawmakers demanding his resignation.



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