Event of the week

Last week, Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose made a serious gaffe that could cost his city the right to host the 2020 Olympics. In an interview with The New York Times, Inose said that Istanbul, one of the main competitors for the right to host the Games, is noticeably inferior to the Japanese capital, and the Arab countries themselves “have nothing in common with each other except Allah and internal conflicts.” The IOC considered such a statement to be politically incorrect and reminded the governor of the rules that prohibit giving any assessment to competitors. At first, Inose began to defend himself and even stated that his words were distorted by journalists, but, having received an offer from The New York Times to argue on this topic in court, he decided to abandon the claims against the newspaper. I had to apologize. “I am ashamed of words that may cause misunderstanding among representatives of Islamic countries,” Inose said. “I apologize for my inappropriate statements.” The IOC accepted Inose's apology, but whether it will be enough for victory is now a big question. Voting to select the capital of the 2020 Games will take place on September 7.

Magazine "Ogonyok" No. 17 dated 05/06/2013, p. 45

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Will the tongue take you away from Tokyo?