Tokyo (AFP)

On the eve of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, Thursday brought another nasty surprise in store for organizers, who had to dismiss the artistic director of Friday's show from office for an old-fashioned Holocaust joke.

"We learned that in a past artistic performance," Kentaro Kobayashi "used mocking language about a tragic historical fact," Tokyo-2020 President Seiko Hashimoto told reporters.

"It is scandalous, totally unacceptable," reacted Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

In a 1998 video sketch from a children's television show, Mr. Kobayashi referred to paper dolls he had created by telling his partner: "the ones from the last time you said + let's play the Holocaust + ", triggering laughter from the audience.

- Cascading scandals -

This dismissal comes barely a few days after the resignation of Keigo Oyamada, composer of one of the musical themes of the opening ceremony, overtaken by old interviews in the 1990s in which he explained that he persecuted classmates with disabilities in her youth.

And in March, another artistic director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics, Hiroshi Sasaki, had also resigned for having suggested to disguise as pig a Japanese actress and star of social networks with assumed curves, Naomi Watanabe.

A month earlier, the president of Tokyo-2020 and former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori also had to leave office for sexist remarks.

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These cascading departures have further tarnished the image of the Tokyo Olympics, already unpopular with a large part of the Japanese population, who fears that the event will worsen the health crisis in the country.

Organizers said they "are continuing preparations for the opening ceremony as originally scheduled" after ensuring that "no portion of the ceremony can be attributed solely to Kentaro Kobayashi".

24 hours before the opening ceremony, which is to officially open the Tokyo Olympics, these scandals almost eclipse the major subject of these pre-Olympics: the Covid-19.

However, the first packages of athletes tested positive are starting to fall.

Positive and isolated, they will not have time to be ready for their competition.

On Thursday, the list, which is now approaching 90 cases (athletes, service providers, members of delegations ...) since July 1, was extended by three new names.

Russian Ilya Borodin, European champion in the 400m medley, American Taylor Crabb, beach volleyball specialist, finished their Olympics before starting them.

More worryingly, Marketa Nausch Slukova, who also plays beach volleyball, is the fifth Czech representative to test positive.

Guinea, she finally decided to send a delegation of five athletes to Tokyo, less than 24 hours after announcing to give up because of the pandemic.

The West African country has obtained "guarantees from the health authorities", according to its Sports Minister Sanoussy Bantama Sow.

- Very green Blues-

On the sporting front, France did not start these Olympics in the best possible way.

The footballers had the honor of launching the Olympic campaign of the Blues in Tokyo.

André-Pierre Gignac and his teammates were very green, totally dominated by Mexico (4-1).

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The former Marseillais, left to play in the Mexican Championship in 2015 will hardly be able to rejoice to have scored a penalty.

But the young French team formed late and in difficulty will have to do much better against South Africa on Sunday then against Japan, three days later.

Brazil, on the other hand, did honor to its Olympic title by largely dominating Germany 4-2 with a hat-trick from Richarlison.

On Friday, it is the French rowers and archers who will make their Olympic entry, but the first finals will only be on Saturday.

© 2021 AFP