TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo 2020 Olympic leader Yoshiro Mori is expected to resign on Friday over his sexual remarks, with Olympic mayor Saburo Kawabuchi saying Mori had called for him to be taken over .
Kawabuchi said the two men had fled up to a meeting where he accepted Mori’s request on Thursday.
“Mr. Mori was simply saying ‘I want you to take over now that this has happened’, “Kawabuchi, 84, told reporters late Thursday.
“I was thinking how sad it must be and I couldn’t stop crying,” Kawabuchi said.
Mori, 83, a former prime minister of Japan, began rising around the world with sexual views that women talk too much, he did at an Olympic committee meeting.
Mori has apologized for his comments but so far has refused to resign, despite increasingly urging him to resign.
By retiring less than six months before the start of the Summer Olympics, he raised new doubts about the feasibility of the Games postponed this year.
Games officials are already struggling with how to keep the Olympics safe, with tens of thousands of athletes and possibly spectators, over the spread of coronavirus infection.
Mori’s controversial views were unquestioned, Kawabuchi, who was president of the Japanese Football Association, however, said he wants Mori to have a mentoring role in the Games to help make the successful events.
Kawabuchi represented Japan in football at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo and helped Japan co-host the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South Korea.
His choice sparked questions on social media as to whether there was a better alternative than an older male figure.
Later on Friday, the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, which has not officially commented on its role at Mori, plans to hold a meeting of its council and governing body, followed by a press conference.
Having initially stated that they were considering closing the case with Mori’s original apology, the International Olympic Committee noted his comments as “totally inappropriate. ”
Reporting by Ju-min Park; Edited by Michael Perry