MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2021) Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Thursday said that the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics should be carried out as planned even with the recent dismissal of the director of the event over a past joke about Holocaust.
Earlier in the day, the Tokyo organizing team removed Kentaro Kobayashi from the post of director of the Olympics opening and closing ceremonies over his past comments on Holocaust. In addition, earlier this week Japanese musician Keigo Oyamada quit his post as a composer for this year's global sports event amid the public outcry over his bullying of disabled children in the past.
When asked about plans on the opening ceremony for the Games, scheduled for this Friday, Suga said that the organizers should comply with the original plan, according to the Japanese Kyodo news agency. The prime minister also noted that he found Kobayashi's statements "unacceptable."
Following the announcement of Kobayashi's dismissal, the Tokyo organizing team's chief, Seiko Hashimoto, publicly apologized for the incident and said that the whole concept of the opening ceremony was currently under revision.
The Tokyo Olympics is set to begin on Friday and last through August 8 under strict restrictive measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
