Yoshiro Mori, President of the Organizing Committee for the 2020 Olympics -

KIM KYUNG-HOON / POOL / AFP

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Organizing Committee Chairman Yoshiro Mori apologized to Japanese media on Thursday for the sexist comments he made the day before and raised the possibility of resigning, if he was forced to.

"If the calls for my resignation get louder, I may be forced to quit," Mori told the Mainichi daily.

"I would like to apologize," he added, assuring that he spoke "without thinking".

A press conference by Mr. Mori was also announced by Tokyo-2020 for Thursday 2:00 p.m. local time.

Yoshiro Mori prefers women who know how to "stay in their place"

On Wednesday, this 83-year-old former Prime Minister of Japan (2000-2001) complained that "boards of directors with a lot of women take a long time", because they are "struggling to finish" according to him. their interventions, according to statements reported by the Japanese newspaper Asahi.

“Women are competitive.

If one raises their hand (to intervene, Editor's note), the others believe that they must speak out too.

That's why everyone ends up talking, ”he had developed during a meeting with the Japanese Olympic committee which was open to the press.

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

Wave of indignation in Japan

Neither the Tokyo-2020 press service nor Japanese government spokesman Katsunobu Kato have officially reacted to Mr. Mori's comments so far.

His statements sparked outrage on social media in Japan, with hashtags “enough is enough”, “misogyny” or “we demand the resignation of Yoshiro Mori” among the trends on Twitter.

Renho, a parliamentary opposition figure in Japan, described as "shameful" Mr. Mori's remarks, which she said go against Olympic values, opposed to all forms of discrimination.

Former Japanese athletes have also reacted, such as Kaori Yamaguchi, former judoka and member of the Japanese Olympic committee, who considered Mr. Mori's comments "unfortunate".

Gender equality is supposed "to be a prerequisite for organizing the Tokyo Games," she added.

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  • Sport

  • gender equality

  • Japan

  • Olympic Games

  • 2020 Olympics

  • Sexism