Tokyo 2020 organisers to meet over Mori’s sexist comments
Yoshiro Mori has apologised but is facing calls to resign after he made the comments at a Japanese Olympic Committee board meeting last week, where he is reported to have complained that women in meetings talked too much; Toyota, a worldwide Olympic sponsor, has condemned the remarks
Last Updated: 10/02/21 8:53am
Organisers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will meet on Friday to discuss their response to sexist remarks made by president Yoshiro Mori.
According to the committee, members “will be invited to express their opinions on President Mori’s remarks and to discuss the future of gender equality initiatives of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee”.
Mori has apologised but is facing calls to resign after he made the derogatory comments at a Japanese Olympic Committee board meeting last week, where he is reported to have complained that women in meetings talked too much.
The IOC released a statement yesterday to condemn the 83-year-old’s remarks as “absolutely inappropriate”.
Hundreds of people who signed up to volunteer at this summer’s rescheduled Games are thought to have resigned in protest at the former Japanese prime minister’s remarks.
0:32 Toyota president ‘disappointed’ by Mori’s comments
Toyota president Akio Toyoda said on Wednesday his company was disappointed by the recent comments from Mori that were contrary to the values the Japanese automaker supports.
Toyota is a worldwide Olympic sponsor and became a top-level partner because it shared the values with “the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which through sports aim to create a peaceful and an inclusive society without discrimination in which anyone can participate,” Toyoda said.
“We are disappointed by the recent comments from the President of TOCOG, which are contrary to the values that Toyota respects and supports,” he said.
Other Olympic sponsors have also expressed their views, with Asahi Holdings saying they believed Mori’s comments were “disappointing and inappropriate considering the spirit of gender equality espoused” by the Games.
An Eneos executive said on Wednesday the company “deplored the sexist remarks from a viewpoint of respect for human rights”.