Tokyo Olympics chief retracts sexist comments, refuses to resign

Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori enters a venue for a news conference in Tokyo on February 4, 2021. (Photo by KIM KYUNG-HOON / POOL / AFP)

TOKYO— Tokyo Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori on Thursday apologized for sexist comments about women talking too much, but said he would not resign, even as his remarks sparked a firestorm of criticism on social media and risked tainting public opinion of the Games.

Mori, 83, apologized at a hastily called news conference, but when pressed on whether he really thought women talked too much, he said : “I don’t listen to women that much lately so I don’t know.”

The hashtag “Mori, please resign” was trending on Twitter in Japan on Thursday morning and some users on the platform were calling on sponsors to pressure the Tokyo organizing committee into dropping Mori from the top post.

Mori, whose term as prime minister was marked by a string of gaffes and blunders, made the sexist comments at a Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) board of trustees meeting this week.

“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,” said Mori, according to local media.

“We have about seven women at the organizing committee but everyone understands their place.”

The JOC decided in 2019 to aim for more than 40 percent female members on the board, but there are just five women among the board’s 24 members.

Mori acknowledged that his comments were “inappropriate” and against the Olympic spirit.

“I feel deep remorse and I would like to retract my remarks,” he told reporters.

Asked about Mori’s remarks in parliament, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said his comments should not have been made.

Japan persistently trails its peers on promoting gender equality, ranking 121 out of 153 nations surveyed in the 2020 global gender gap report of the World Economic Forum.

ERODE PUBLIC TRUST IN OLYMPICS

Mori is becoming Tokyo’s latest liability in hosting the Olympics, critics say, complicating an event that has already been delayed once due to the global pandemic.

Yoko Shida, a professor of constitutional law at Musashino Art University, said Mori’s comments ran counter to the ethos of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and was unlikely to assuage public concerns about the Games.

“This would normally warrant a resignation,” Shida said.

Nearly 80 percent of the Japanese public are opposed to holding the Summer Games as scheduled this year due to concerns about the coronavirus, recent polls show.

Former judo champion Kaori Yamaguchi, who attended the JOC meeting with Mori, said the Olympic chief’s comments could further erode trust in the Tokyo Games.

“Given his position, it was quite unfortunate – and the fact that it was sent out to the world, it wasn’t just an individual point of view but suggested to the world that Japanese may still think this way,” she said ahead of Mori’s briefing on Thursday.

In an apparent protest of Mori’s comments, Noriko Mizoguchi, a former judo silver medallist, tweeted the International Olympic Committee’s code of ethics and said that any type of harassment should be rejected.

Renho, a prominent opposition lawmaker, called Mori’s remarks “shameful.”

“His comments run counter to the spirit of Olympics that denounces discrimination and calls for friendship, solidarity and fairness,” she said in a tweet.

Nearing the end of the briefing, Mori cut off questions as reporters grilled him repeatedly over his comments.

Asked whether he still considered himself qualified to run the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, Mori replied: “What do you think?”