Five qualities are being sought in whoever is chosen to be the new president of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games by the selection panel in charge, the committee announced Tuesday.
The eight-person selection panel is in the process of choosing a candidate to replace Yoshiro Mori, the former prime minister who has announced his intention to resign as president after making remarks widely seen as discriminatory against women.
Chaired by Fujio Mitarai, honorary president of the organizing committee, a meeting was held behind closed doors on Wednesday for the second consecutive day, and it is believed the eight members proposed candidates, which will then be short-listed.
According to the organizing committee Director General Toshiro Muto, creating the five criteria was proposed by Mitarai at Tuesday's meeting and members discussed what they should focus on in selecting the candidate.
The five criteria were posted on the Tokyo 2020 website:
1) Profound knowledge of the Olympics, the Paralympics and sport in general.
2) Deep understanding of the principles of the Tokyo 2020 Games and the Olympic Charter, including gender equality, diversity and inclusion; ability to actualise them during the Games and as keystones of the Tokyo 2020 legacy.
3) Experience on the global stage; international profile and sense of awareness.
4) Understanding of the overall background of the Tokyo 2020 Games and their current state of preparation.
5) Organisational management skills and ability to bring together diverse stakeholders.
Members of the selection committee are allowed to be candidates.
While the names of panel members besides Mitarai have not been made public, sources said the other members are Yuko Arakida, Olympic program committee member of the International Olympic Committee; Koji Murofushi, commissioner of the Japan Sports Agency; Mayumi Narita, an aquatics Paralympian; Rie Tanaka, a former Olympic gymnast; Ayumi Tanimoto, former Olympic judoka; Mitsuchika Tarao, vice governor of Tokyo; and Yasuhiro Yamashita, president of the Japanese Olympic Committee. The three men and four women all serve as executive board members of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee.
After the panel selects a candidate, it will confirm if the person has the desire to assume the post of president, then recommend that person to the organizing committee's executive board.
If the candidate is a member of the executive board, the new president will be decided through a resolution at an executive board meeting. If the candidate is not an executive board member, organizing committee councillors will hold a meeting to appoint the candidate as a new board member before an executive board resolution is made.
According to the organizing committee's articles of incorporation, whether for executive board members or councillors, five days' advance notice needs to be given before a meeting is held. Muto said, however, that an exception stipulating that a meeting can be held when agreed upon by all members will be applied so that the new president can be named as soon as possible.
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