Written by Over a week ago, Yoshiro Mori, the president of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee suggested that women talk too much in meetings. I was shocked to hear what Mr. Mori said, especially for the Japanese Olympic Committee’s focus in increasing female representation in their leadership ranks. While he admitted that his comment was discriminatory towards women, while also saying that his statement was taken out of context, the Japanese Olympic Committee stood by silently, waiting for the news to disappear. It took many people to be vocal about what Mr. Mori said was not okay, and for someone to realize that he needed to resign.
Mr. Mori is also the former prime minister of Japan. Did he carry these same feelings, say them out loud, and openly discriminate while the prime minister and in his roles in the Olympic movement? I am sure that he had a mother, and probably one or more sisters, aunts, daughters, nieces, or female cousins, did he say these same things to these women or did he keep this thoughts and discriminatory values to himself?
Some may say that he is old and from a different generation. Others may argue that this was just the old culture in Japan. However, if he has openly been this vocal about his discriminatory beliefs his whole career, that means the old culture is very much prevalent in their society as people like him are in still in power. But this issue is not just in Japan, it spans most countries, regions, and cultures on our planet, to include western world countries and cultures. Look at the professional sports executives nearest you, are their organizations diverse and reflect the composition of the local or national culture, or is it just predominately men? Professional sports in a country or region really mirror what the morals, values, and ethics are of the entire populace.
I hope that the Japanese Olympic Committee picks someone to replace Mr. Mori who really emboldens what the future generations of the Japanese people really want and need, not putting someone who deserves the position because of their past positions. I also hope that the Japanese people continue to speak up and the International Olympic Committee and Olympic Council of Asia realize that this is not only a problem in the Japanese Olympic Committee but is also a regional and international issue. We need change in all sports in professional leagues, university conferences, Olympic movement, and youth sports. Hopefully this incident, along with many others, will not be forgotten, we can learn, and move forward selecting the right people based on their true ability to lead sports organizations and not because of their gender, color of their skin, religious beliefs, class, where they are from, or who they know.