Controversies Related to the Olympics 2020
Well, when we are looking at as great an event as the Olympics, scandals are sure to happen. As such, Tokyo Olympics have been delayed for quite a long time, but have been continuously surfacing in the news more for the controversies rather than the performance of the athletes.
Director of the Opening Ceremony Fired
Kentaro Kobayashi, the opening ceremony director sacks by the Olympic Committee just hours before the start of the event for a joke he said in the past about the historic event of the Holocaust which outraged the public. It was a part of a comedy act back in the 1990s where he was saying, “Let’s play Holocaust”, which recurs in the local media giving rise to a distressful situation among the people. He was to later apologize for his actions and “stupid choice of words”.
Creative Director of Music Resigns
Keigo Oyamada, the Japanese composer who was chosen as the creative director of music for the opening and the closing ceremony of the Olympics as well as the Paralympics, exited after old reports of his bullying and offensive behavior were brought to light. In a magazine interview, back in 1995, he made fun of disabled children and also narrated incidents about him purposely confining his classmate in a cardboard box. He resigned just four days before the starting of the Olympics.
Creative Head Stepped Down
In March, Hiroshi Sasaki, the Creative Head steps down after he was to pass an offensive comment on a famous Japanese female entertainer. While chatting with his colleagues he was to address the entertainer as “Olym-pig”. This insensitive body-shaming derogatory remark made him lose his position as the Creative Head of the Tokyo Games.
Sexist Comment from the Former President
The former President of the Tokyo Olympics, Yoshiro Mori, was to resign in February 2021, after his sexist remarks sparking outrage and stunning the world. At an Olympic Committee meeting, he said that meetings get too long because of women. Though he initially was not ready to step down but soon was to get a replacement by Seiko Hashimoto. She is not only a seven-time Olympian but also a female legislator. His comment brought to focus the issue of the existing inequality of gender. In the country with the third-largest world economy.
Logo Controversy
The design of the logo of the Tokyo Olympics reveals on the 24th of July, 2015. But it faced accusations of plagiarism from a Belgium graphic designer. The design ultimately changes and was presents to all on the 25th of April, 2016.
Ban on Russia
Those who are hooking onto the ongoing Olympic Games must have to follow that the Russian athletes are participating under the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) flag and not under their actual country flag. This is so because the 335 Russian competitors are considering as ‘neutrals’. Russia has been ban from the Olympic Games of 2020 over a doping scandal. For this reason, ROC forms to allow the athletes. Who had nothing to do with the doping scandal, to participate in the games?
Two Athletes Test Positive
Even after taking full precautionary measures and unbreakable quarantine rules, two athletes have been testing positive for coronavirus. It’s now on the rise and has become a matter of serious concern for the organizers. As the world is anticipating a third wave, situations are not quite all right in the Olympic village.
Conclusion
Amidst all such happenings, the Tokyo Olympics had a good start and is expecting to end peacefully without giving rise to any further controversies.