Tokyo Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori resigned on Friday, less than six months before the scheduled start of the delayed Games, amid mounting pressure after sexist comments he made caused a global stir, AFP reported. The resignation adds to the woes faced by the organisers, who are struggling to ease qualms over rising skepticism surrounding the showpiece event. 

Also Read | Virus delay, sexism row: Tokyo’s turbulent Olympic timeline

Mori’s replacement is also not clear yet, with his favoured successor facing opposition. The 83-year-old former Japanese Prime Minister sparked domestic and global outrage last week when he said that women speak too much in meetings. 

Officials, sports personalities and Olympic sponsors issued condemnation of the remarks, labelling them as inappropriate, leading to Mori announcing his resignation on Friday. 

“My inappropriate statement has caused a lot of chaos. I would like to express my sincere apologies,” he said at a meeting of the Tokyo 2020 executive board and council called to discuss the remarks. “I wish to resign as the president as of today. What is important is to hold the Olympics from July. It must not be the case that my presence becomes an obstacle to that,” he added. 

Prominent sports administrator Saburo Kawabuchi was touted to replace Mori, who selected him for the role. The deal seemed to be complete as the 84-year-old former footballer scheduled interviews to talk about his top priorities in the new job. 

However, the selection of another octogenarian, coupled with Mori’s control over the process, soon faced flak. “Inside the organising committee, there are some voicing concern,” the newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported quoting a source involved in organising the Games on Friday. 

“I don’t think an old man like him taking over will convince the public. It is desirable to go through a formal procedure,” the source said. 

By early Friday afternoon, local media reported Tokyo 2020 had come under pressure from the government over the appointment and that sources close to Kawabuchi said he had decided to turn down the job.

Also Read | US lawmakers seek to remove China as the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics

His withdrawal leaves the race for the key post wide open, though reports suggested Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto, a former Winter and Summer Olympian and one of just two women in the cabinet, was a leading candidate.

Mori’s resignation caps just over a week of uproar after he told members of Japan’s Olympic Committee that women have difficult speaking concisely, “which is annoying”.

He apologised but then defended his remarks and told reporters: “I don’t speak to women much”.

The comments drew fire at home and abroad. Several hundred Olympic volunteers have since withdrawn and a petition calling for action against him gathered nearly 150,000 signatures.

While Kawabuchi was considered an able administrator, the appearance of Mori hand-picking his successor did not go down well.

“It makes no sense for a resigning chief to appoint his successor,” one Tokyo 2020 board member told the Mainichi Shimbun.

“There are steps to this process.”

The fallout over Mori’s remarks comes with organisers already battling public doubt about holding the huge international event this summer.

Around 80% of Japanese polled in recent surveys back either further postponement or an outright cancellation.

Organisers have tried to quell the disquiet by releasing virus rulebooks for athletes, officials and media, including restrictions on movement and regular testing.

Also Read | Olympic chief asks to keep ‘patience’ amid increasing doubts over Games schedule

But with Tokyo and other parts of the country under a virus state of emergency, doubts persist about the event’s viability.

The first Olympic test event of the year has already been postponed because of Japan’s current strict virus entry rules.

Japan’s first vaccine approval is expected over the weekend, with thousands of medical workers first in line to be inoculated, likely by the end of February.

But the broader rollout will move slowly, with vaccination of the elderly not set to start until April.