The domestic and international furor surrounding Yoshiro Mori, president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Organising Committee, whose sexist comments resulted in his resignation Friday, puts an end to the latest chapter in the career of one of Japan’s most influential, but controversial, public figures.
Despite broad domestic and international criticism that the 83-year old Mori was out of touch and a relic of a bygone era, many within the Japanese Olympic movement and the administration of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga initially either urged Mori to stay or were reluctant to call for his resignation.
In the end, even the International Olympic Committee — which had earlier said that with Mori's apology the problem was over — condemned his comments as inappropriate and contradictory to its Olympic goals.
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