Tokyo Olympics Team Looks to Pivot After Chief’s Sexist Comments

(Bloomberg) -- The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee is expected to announce the resignation of its chief, former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, after he made sexist comments that added more troubles to the virus-delayed Olympics.

In another blow to the group, its replacement process appears to have been hit by problems. Japanese soccer hall-of-famer Saburo Kawabuchi, 84, who had been reported by local media as a top candidate to take over from Mori, 83, said he wouldn’t take the job, the Asahi newspaper reported.

This came after critics contended replacing one octogenarian man with another may not be enough to repair the damage for the games already beset by low public support and worries they could set off a fresh coronavirus wave. The government, which isn’t directly involved in the selection process, was mulling whether to ask organizers to rethink having Kawabuchi as a replacement, national broadcaster NHK reported.

Mori was expected to make the announcement of his exit following an emergency meeting that starts from 3 p.m. in Tokyo. The gaffe-prone former premier touched off a global backlash, a rare rebuke from the International Olympic Committee and criticism from crucial sponsors such as Toyota Motor Corp. after making derogatory remarks this month about women, including saying they talk too much in meetings.

The pressures was also raised after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said she wouldn’t attend a meeting with Mori and IOC chief Thomas Bach scheduled later this month. When asked about Mori in a press conference ahead of the Australian Open, top-ranked tennis star Naomi Osaka called his remarks ignorant.

“Whoever the Tokyo Organizing Committee selects to replace Mori will send a message about the group’s stance on gender equality,” said Jules Boykoff, a professor at Pacific University Oregon and author of a political history of the Olympics. “If they opt for another person from the powerful old-boys club, it will speak volumes.”

Kawabuchi had a long soccer career, first as a player, then as a manager and in the early 2000s, head of the Japanese Football Association. Nicknamed “captain,” he played for Japan when Tokyo last hosted the Olympics in 1964 and was a key organizer for the 2002 soccer World Cup that Japan co-hosted with South Korea.

The Tokyo Olympic committee will set up a panel, which will include athletes, to pick a replacement for Mori, NHK said.

Gender Equality

Kawabuchi is one of the country’s most seasoned hands in global sports, but there have been calls for a women, or a younger official with international experience to replace Mori.

While the blowback on Mori suggests a growing intolerance for outright sexism, Kawabuchi is hardly a radical choice, said Kanae Doi, director at the Japan office of Human Rights Watch. “There needs to be a very drastic, structural change to achieve gender equality,” she said.

Masa Takaya, a spokesperson for the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, had no comment when reached by phone Thursday.

The scandal is only the latest setback for the summer Olympics, which were postponed a year because of the Covid pandemic. Even as the city endures another virus-related state of emergency and according to one survey, only 16% of Japanese think the event should go ahead as planned, organizers remain stalwart.

Hundreds of volunteers quit in protest and the organizing committee received some 4,000 critical calls and emails, according to public broadcaster NHK.

“The outcry isn’t going to stop if Mori remains on the committee as an honorary position,” said Tomoyuki Suzuki, a visiting professor at Kokushikan University who was involved in Tokyo’s bid for the 2016 Olympics. “Some athletes may take action against him during the opening ceremony, while some may boycott. He needs to be completely gone for the Games to go ahead.”

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