Tokyo Olympic organizers are planning to meet this week to discuss their response to sexist comments made by their boss, reports said Tuesday, after hundreds of event volunteers quit in the ensuing furor.
Gaffe-prone Tokyo 2020 chief Yoshiro Mori, 83, sparked uproar in Japan and abroad last week when he said women speak too much in meetings.
He has since apologized but not stepped down, and the International Olympic Committee says it considers the matter closed.
Japanese media said the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee is planning to meet later this week, possibly on Friday, to discuss its response as calls grow for Mori to resign.
Following Mori’s remarks, 390 Olympic and Paralympic volunteers have quit, the committee said, noting that this number includes withdrawals for all reasons.
A total of 80,000 volunteers from Japan and overseas have been recruited for 2021’s virus-postponed Games.
Two people have pulled out of the torch relay and around 4,000 people made complaint calls to organizers, according to public broadcaster NHK.
The row is the latest headache for organizers already battling public disquiet about the delayed Olympics, with polls showing more than 80 percent of Japanese oppose holding the event in summer 2021.
An online campaign calling for action against Mori has attracted more than 140,000 signatures.
Top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said Tuesday that organizers should try and convince volunteers to return.
Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga gestures after delivering his policy speech at the lower house of parliament in Tokyo on Monday. Suga pledged to bring the coronavirus epidemic under control in Japan “as soon as possible” and continue preparations to host the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer, media reported. Photo: VCG
