A man takes a photograph of the Olympic Rings in front of the National Stadium, the main stadium for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The one-year delay (as of now) has added an additional 2.8 billion dollars to Tokyo’s original 13 billion cost which was already twice the estimate when the city bid for the Games. - Getty Images

12 February, 2021 18:39 IST

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Friday that a replacement for the outgoing Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games president should be chosen in a transparent and rules-based way.

Suga told reporters that he expected to see a new structure quickly at the Games organizing committee to reassure the Japanese public and people around the world, and the government would work to make the Olympics safe .

-IOC to work with Mori's successor for safe Games this year-

The International Olympic Committee said on Friday it was "as committed as ever" to staging the Games this summer, following the resignation of the head of the local Tokyo organising committee.

Yoshiro Mori stepped down as Tokyo 2020 president on Friday, five months from the Games' scheduled opening, after sexist comments that caused outrage at home and abroad.

His handpicked successor is former Japan Football Association president Saburo Kawabuchi, 84, who was derided as "another grandpa" by some on social media.

"The IOC will continue working hand-in-hand with his successor to deliver safe and secure Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in 2021," IOC President Thomas Bach said in a statement.