The president of the Tokyo Olympics organising committee will step down over sexist remarks he made saying women talked too much in meetings, according to reports from Reuters, citing multiple sources.
Yoshiro Mori’s comments, made at a Japanese Olympic Committee board meeting earlier this month, sparked a backlash as discussions ramped up about exactly how the Games, already postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be held in 2021.
At a hastily called news conference on February 4, the 83-year-old former Japanese prime minister retracted his remarks and said they were “inappropriate” and against the Olympic spirit, but at that point he declined to resign.
On Thursday Reuters cited two unnamed sources in reporting that Mori would officially announce his retirement on Friday, after Japanese media, including public broadcaster NHK and The Japan Times, broke the story.
Mori told Nippon TV he would explain himself in a press conference on Friday.
“I must apologise again for this matter,” he told the broadcaster.
“I cannot let this problem go on any longer.”
More to come.
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