Words "inappropriate" and contrary to the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. "Yoshiro Mori, president of the organizing committee of the Tokyo Olympics, was forced to apologize Thursday, February 4 for sexist comments he had held the day before, while ruling out the idea of ​​resigning, despite the flood of criticism to which it is the subject in Japan.

These statements "went against the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games" and were therefore "inappropriate", he admitted Mori at a press conference in Tokyo.

#Japan 🇯🇵 ranks 121st in the WEF Gender Gap Index in 2020 #AFPgraphics @AFP.


Tokyo Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori apologizes but refuses to resign after making sexist remarks: Details https://t.co/iLSJnJDz11 pic.twitter.com/jfLdHbcnwS

- AsiaNews (@AsiaNews_FR) February 4, 2021

"I would like to withdraw what I said," he added, saying he wanted to apologize "to all those who felt offended".

"I have no intention of resigning," he said however, recalling his "personal sacrifice for seven years" in the service of the organization of the Olympics-2020, postponed for one year until this summer ( July 23-August 8) due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) "considers that the case is closed", since the boss of the Games "has apologized", a spokesperson told AFP on Thursday.

Sexist clichés and women who "stay in their place"

On Wednesday, this ephemeral Prime Minister (2000-2001), aged 83, complained that "boards of directors with a lot of women take a long time", because they have according to him "difficult to finish" their interventions, reported the Japanese newspaper

Asahi

.

"Women have a competitive spirit. If one raises their hand [to intervene, editor's note], the others believe that they must express themselves as well. That's why everyone ends up talking," he had reckoned at a meeting that was open to the press.

Yoshiro Mori was also pleased that the women members of the Tokyo-2020 organizing committee know “stay in their place”.

The case was traced Thursday to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who was booed by opposition in parliament for initially saying he was "not aware of the details".

Such remarks "should not be allowed", finally blurted out Yoshihide Suga.

The Japanese Minister of the Olympic Games, Seiko Hashimoto, wished to have a "frank discussion" with Yoshiro Mori, reminding the media that equality between men and women was a principle at the heart of Olympism.

Awkward apologies

Faced with the rolling fire of questions from journalists during his press conference, Yoshiro Mori appeared defensive and clumsy.

So when a journalist asked him if he thought that in general women spoke too much, Yoshiro Mori repeated: "This is what I often hear".

"I don't know, because I don't often speak with women lately", he pleaded again, also throwing at journalists, with annoyance: "You ask me all these questions because you want to write funny stories, isn't it? "

>> See also on France24.com: Tokyo Olympics: vaccinating athletes as a priority, a controversial event

Yoshiro Mori had said Thursday morning to a Japanese newspaper to have "spoken without thinking" the day before, and to have been "scolded" by his wife and daughter in particular.

"I was trying to say that I was wondering about the general opinion according to which we must increase the number of women" in the executive bodies, but "I did not want to be contemptuous of women", he had further explained to the Japanese daily

Mainichi

.

He spoke Wednesday to members of the Japanese Olympic Committee, which announced last year its desire to have a board of directors composed of 40% women, against 20% currently.                

Sexism, a structural problem in Japan

Yoshiro Mori's statements about women sparked outrage on social media in Japan, with the hashtags “enough is enough”, “misogyny” or “we demand Yoshiro Mori's resignation” among the trends on Twitter Thursday.

Renho Murata, a parliamentary opposition figure in Japan who only uses his first name in his political career, called Yoshiro Mori's words "shameful", while Kaori Yamaguchi, a former judokate and member of the Japanese Olympic committee, deemed them "unhappy".

Yoshiro Mori, known to have already committed many blunders especially when he was Prime Minister, had caused another controversy at the beginning of the week by claiming that the Tokyo Olympics would be held this summer "whatever happens" concerning the evolution of the health crisis in the world.

#Japan 🇯🇵 ranks 121st in the WEF Gender Gap Index in 2020 #AFPgraphics @AFP.


Tokyo Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori apologizes but refuses to resign after making sexist remarks: Details https://t.co/iLSJnJDz11 pic.twitter.com/jfLdHbcnwS

- AsiaNews (@AsiaNews_FR) February 4, 2021

On Thursday, a popular Japanese comedian, Atsushi Tamura, announced that he was giving up participating in the Olympic torch relay after Yoshiro Mori's peremptory remarks about the Games, "incomprehensible" in his opinion given the current severity of the pandemic, including in the Japanese archipelago.

Japan lags behind on gender equality, ranking a painful 121st out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum's latest gender inequality report, and 131st for the proportion of women in the workforce. positions of responsibility in business, politics and administration.

With AFP

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