Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Organizing Committee Chairman Yoshiro Mori is set to step down following an outcry in Japan and abroad over his sexist remarks last week, Japanese media reported Thursday.
Several major Japanese media, citing sources familiar with the matter, claimed that Mr. Mori, 83, had informed officials of his willingness to resign and to announce it during a meeting of Tokyo-2020 organizers on Friday.
The Tokyo-2020 press service was not immediately available to comment on this information.
Mr Mori, an 83-year-old former Prime Minister of Japan known for his verbal slippages, said last week that women have difficulty speaking in a concise manner, which is "annoying."
He awkwardly apologized the next day, while initially ruling out resigning.
An avalanche of criticism had followed in Japan and abroad.
Even sponsors of the Olympics, usually discreet, have stepped up in recent days, such as the automotive giant Toyota, also claiming that Mr. Mori's remarks were contrary to the Olympic spirit and the values they support.
At first, after Mr. Mori's apology, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had deemed the case closed, before estimating on Tuesday that his words were "completely inappropriate", while the reactions were more and more lively.
Crisis meeting Friday
This scandal is a new thorn in the side of the organizers of Tokyo-2020, who were already struggling to rekindle enthusiasm for the Games (23 July-8 August 2021), postponed last year because of the pandemic, while the global health context remains worrying.
Athletes like the Japanese star of women's tennis Naomi Osaka, volunteers of the Olympic Games, elected representatives of the parliamentary opposition in Japan or even members of the staff of embassies in Tokyo all protested in various ways in recent days after the affair. Mori.
The mayor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, also increased the pressure on Wednesday by announcing that she did not intend to attend a meeting of all the stakeholders of the Olympics scheduled for later this month, against the backdrop of Mr. Mori's comments.
Launched a week ago, an online petition urging Olympic officials not to stand idly by exceeded 146,000 signatures on Thursday.
A former footballer
Tokyo-2020 organizers are scheduled to meet on Friday to "express their views on Mr. Mori's remarks" and discuss their "future initiatives" on gender equality, according to a statement released Wednesday.
According to Japanese television channels TBS and NTV, former soccer player Saburo Kawabuchi, 84, could be appointed in place of Mr Mori.
Mr. Kawabuchi played a key role in the 1990s in developing professional football and popularizing the sport in Japan.
He also currently holds the symbolic function of mayor of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Village.
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