Yoshiro Mori resigned ahead of a Tokyo 2020 executive board meeting on Friday; 83-year-old said women talk too much and are driven by a "strong sense of rivalry" during an online meeting of the committee's board of trustees earlier this month
Friday 12 February 2021 11:10, UK
The president of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic organising committee Yoshiro Mori has resigned after making sexist remarks about women.
The news was confirmed ahead of a Tokyo 2020 executive board meeting on Friday.
The 83-year-old said women talk too much and are driven by a "strong sense of rivalry" during an online meeting of the committee's board of trustees earlier this month.
"If we increase the number of female board members, we have to make sure their speaking time is restricted somewhat, they have difficulty finishing, which is annoying," Mori was quoted as saying by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
Mori later retracted his words, acknowledging it was inappropriate - but when pressed on whether he really thought women talked too much, he replied: "I don't listen to women that much lately, so I don't know."
The former Japanese prime minister refused to resign at the time, but his comments had drawn sharp criticism in parliament, where some opposition politicians demanded he quit.
"My inappropriate statement has caused a lot of chaos," Mori, whose words were translated into English, said on Friday.
"I will be resigning from the president's position."
Mori added: "I would like to express my deepest apologies to the members of the council and executive board, as well as the entire community.
"The important thing is that the Olympic Games is to be held in July. If I am going to be (an obstacle) to the Games' delivery then that is something I think we should avoid."
Mori's comments had been criticised by Games sponsor Toyota, among others. On Tuesday, a group of female Japanese politicians wore white as a mark of protest against his remarks.
"I didn't mean for (my remarks) to be neglecting women but I guess it was broadcasted in that way," Mori said.
"I actually worked a lot to allow women to be able to 'voice out', even more than men.
"There were times when the females were not voicing out but I had appointed a couple of women so I can give them an environment and an opportunity to state whatever it is they wanted to say."
Earlier this week the International Olympic Committee released a statement saying Mori's comments were "inappropriate" but stopped short of calling for him to quit.
Mori said he had spoken for an hour via teleconference with Thomas Bach, the president of the IOC, since making the controversial remarks.
"He gave me a lot of words of encouragement and he also praised me for being able to bring Tokyo 2020 to this point in time," Mori said.
"He expressed his respect for the efforts that I have made."
In response to Mori's resignation, Bach said: "The IOC fully respects President Mori's decision to step down and understands his reasons for doing so. At the same time, we would like to thank him for his outstanding contribution to the organisation of the postponed Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 over the course of the past years.
"Among his many accomplishments, President Mori helped to make Tokyo the best-ever prepared Olympic city. The IOC will continue working hand-in-hand with his successor to deliver safe and secure Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in 2021."
John Coates, chair of the IOC coordination commission, added: "Throughout our eight years working together, President Mori was a strong and effective leader, who could always be trusted to find solutions even in the most difficult circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cooperation with President Mori has been outstanding. I would like to thank him for all his support and dedication."
The IOC says it remains "as committed as ever to the safe and successful delivery" of the Games and welcomes the fact that the organising committee will follow due process to determine the new president.
The Tokyo 2020 Council and Executive Board will form a Candidate Review Committee immediately to draw up a list of potential successors to the role, comprising a 50:50 split of female/male members.
Kyodo recently reported that Saburo Kawabuchi, a former chair of the Japanese Football Association and one of the key figures in the foundation of its professional football competition the J.League, is poised to replace Mori.
However, Tokyo 2020 say it will begin work immediately to address gender equality initiatives after it recognised the ratio of men to women on both the Tokyo 2020 Council and Executive Board was low and needed to be increased.
Mori's resignation is the latest setback for this year's Games, set to go ahead on 23 July despite large swathes of the public saying they believe the multi-sports event should be postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic.
The Games were due to take place last summer but were delayed by 12 months.
On Friday, the International Paralympic Committee also thanked Mori for his efforts over the years and hopes the international reaction to his comments means there will now be "greater emphasis on diversity and inclusion" in the world.
"I would like to thank Mr Mori for his seven years of service and leadership of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and wish him well for the future," IPC president Andrew Parsons said.
"Under Mori's guidance, Tokyo 2020 was the best prepared Organising Committee the IPC has worked with. His team reacted strongly to the pandemic and the historic postponement of the Games last year and are now in a strong position to deliver safe and secure Games this summer.
"We look forward to working with his successor once appointed to continue the great partnership and co-operation we have enjoyed for many years now.
"In life, I'm a firm believer that out of all bad situations something good must come out of it. I sincerely hope that the domestic and international reaction over the last seven days can be harnessed so that society places greater emphasis on diversity and inclusion, not just in terms of gender representation, but race, sexuality, and persons with disabilities.
"This world is a wonderful and diverse place and it is important we embrace inclusion to get the best out of each and every one of us to benefit society as a whole."
