Joc Chief: Mori Remarks 'extremely Inappropriate'
The chief of the Japanese Olympic Committee has criticized remarks by Mori Yoshiro, the head of the organizing committee of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, that appear to belittle women.
JOC President Yamashita Yasuhiro was speaking at a regular news conference on Tuesday.
Yamashita said he wants to stress again that Mori's remarks are extremely inappropriate as they violate the spirit of Olympism, which does not tolerate any discrimination.
Yamashita was at the JOC meeting last Wednesday where Mori made the controversial remarks.
Yamashita explained that he missed the opportunity to stop Mori because the remarks were made more than halfway into his roughly 40-minute speech and were followed by various other topics.
The JOC chief also noted that some people say Olympic athletes are selfish for wanting to hold the Tokyo Games.
He defended the athletes, saying they should not be criticized for expressing their wish to show the results of their hard training.