TOKYO – Yoshiro Mori’s long story seems to be at the end.
Japanese news agency Kyodo and others reported Thursday – citing unnamed sources – that Mori will step down as chairman of the Olympic organizing committee in Tokyo on Friday.
The move follows his sexist comments about women more than a week ago, and a subsequent and rare public debate in Japan on gender equality,
A decision is expected to be announced Friday when the board of the organizing committee meets. The Tokyo 2020 board of directors is overwhelmingly masculine, as is the day-to-day management.
At a meeting of Japan’s Olympic Committee more than a week ago, Mori, 83, essentially said that women “talk too much” and are driven by a “strong sense of rivalry”. Mori, a former prime minister, reluctantly apologized a few days later after his opinion was made, but he refused to resign.
This is more than just another problem for the delayed Olympics, which made the risky choice of trying to open on July 23 in the midst of a pandemic involving 11,000 athletes – and later 4,400 Paralympic athletes.
More than 80% of the Japanese public in recent polls said the Olympics should be postponed or canceled.
Mori’s comments have sparked outrage from many quarters and have shed a spotlight on how far behind Japan is behind other countries in promoting women in politics or the boardrooms. Japan ranks 121st out of 153 in the World Economic Forum’s gender equality ranking.
While some on the street have called for him to resign – several hundred Olympic volunteers said they are withdrawing – most decision-makers have not stopped doing this and have simply condemned his comments.
This report uses information from The Associated Press.