The president of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee apologized for saying women have an 'annoying' tendency to make meetings run long

• The president of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, said women make meetings run long.
• Yoshiro Mori called it "annoying" and said women want to speak up when they see others speaking.
• Mori has since apologized for the remarks, but said he will not resign his post.

Yoshiro Mori, the president of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, has apologized for comments in which he said that women talk too much in meetings,

According to an AFP translation of an Asahi Shimbun story, Mori the former prime minister of Japan, was responding to a question about the Japan Olympic Committee's goal of making the committee at least 40% women.

"When you increase the number of female executive members, if their speaking time isn't restricted to a certain extent, they have difficulty finishing, which is annoying," Mori reportedly said on the call, which included media.

Mori reportedly added: "Women are competitive. When one person raises a hand, others think they need to speak up as well. That's why everyone speaks."

After widespread criticism of the comments, Mori took them back Thursday, saying he has been "scolded" by female relatives.

"Last night, my wife gave me a thorough scolding. She said: 'You've said something bad again, haven't you? I'm going to have to suffer again because you've antagonised women,'" he said, according to a BBC report which cited Japanese newspaper Mainichi.

"This morning, my daughter and granddaughter scolded me as well," it added.

"I am not thinking of resigning. I have been working hard and devoted myself to helping [the Tokyo Olympics] for seven years. I will not be stepping down," he said at a press conference, The Guardian reported.

Mori has been on the Tokyo organizing committee since 2014, according to The Washington Post.

As noted by the Post, Mori, 83, has a history of making offensive remarks. According to the Post, he made a joke in 2000 about AIDS. He resigned as prime minister in 2001 with an approval rating in the single digits.

Mori also reportedly drew criticism for saying figure skater Mao Asada, a silver medalist in the 2010 games, was "always falling at the most critical time."

Mori's comments come amid speculation over whether the Tokyo games will go on as planned, although organizers have insisted they will.

On Wednesday, Mori reportedly said the games would go ahead "however the coronavirus evolves."