Yoshiro Mori, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games [자료사진]
After Yoshiro Mori, chairman of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games organizing committee’s remarks, about 390 volunteers have notified the organizing committee of their resignation, Japanese media such as the Tokyo Shimbun reported.
Most of the volunteers who announced their intention to resign were said to have been cited as reasons for President Mori’s remarks.
Chairman Mori mentioned the issue of increasing the number of female directors at the Temporary Council of the Japan Olympic Committee held on the 3rd, and said, “The board of directors with many women takes time to conduct the meeting.”
According to Kyodo News, two Olympic torch relay runners also resigned because of President Mori’s comments.
The organizing committee has received about 350 phone calls and 4,200 e-mail inquiries over the past five days, of which 90% are said to have protested and offered opinions on President Mori’s remarks.
The Mainichi Newspaper reported that there were protests from the Olympic sponsor companies that participated in the online conference held by the organizing committee on the 8th, saying, “I’m sorry for remarks that deviate from the Olympic ideology.”
As the controversy continued to spread, the organizing committee decided to hold a joint meeting with directors and councilors on the 12th to discuss ways to respond to President Mori’s remarks.
Chairman Mori apologized to reporters on the 4th, saying, “It was an inappropriate expression against the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” when his remarks became a problem, but he said, “I have no intention of resigning.”
The Tokyo Shimbun said that Chairman Mori had solidified his intention to resign from the presidency because he thought it “offends everyone,” but reported that an executive of the organizing committee held back and overturned his intention to resign.