TOKYO – The chairman of the organizing committee of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Yoshiro Mori, has decided to resign after the controversy generated by his sexist comments, according to local media on Thursday.
Mori announced his decision to resign from people close to the organization after the continuous criticism he received from his speech last week came to light, sources close to the state broadcaster NHK said.
The 83-year-old former Japanese prime minister spoke about the alleged inconveniences of the presence of women in meetings during a meeting of the Japanese Olympic Committee, comments that provoked a cascade of protests from the world of politics and sports. inside as well as inside. outside of Japan.
“I had no intention of reducing women,” Mori told the Mainichi newspaper on Thursday, when he hinted at the possibility of resigning as head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee if the population demanded it.