Yoshiro Mori, head of the Tokyo Olympics organising committee, caused outrage when he said the Japanese Olympic Committee would have to ensure "speaking time is restricted" if more female board members were appointed; International Olympic Committee says comments "absolutely inappropriate"
Tuesday 9 February 2021 10:35, UK
The International Olympic Committee said comments about women made by Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games chief Yoshiro Mori were "absolutely inappropriate".
Mori made the sexist comments at a Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) board of trustees meeting last week, according to a report in the Asahi newspaper.
"If we increase the number of female board members, we have to make sure their speaking time is restricted somewhat, they have difficulty finishing, which is annoying," said Mori, according to the Asahi report. "We have about seven women at the organising committee but everyone understands their place."
Mori has apologised for making sexist remarks about women, saying he retracted the comments and would not resign, despite calls for him to step down on social media, but the IOC has released a statement condemning the comments.
"The recent comments of Tokyo 2020 President Mori were absolutely inappropriate and in contradiction to the IOC's commitments and the reforms of its Olympic Agenda 2020," the Olympic body said.
The JOC decided in 2019 to aim for more than 40 per cent female members on the board, but there are just five women among the board's 24 members.
Japan persistently trails its peers on promoting gender equality, ranking 121 out of 153 nations surveyed in the 2020 global gender gap report of the World Economic Forum.
