Arizona Tribune - Japan Olympic official sorry for 'utterly unacceptable' remarks

NYSE - LSE
CMSC -0.12% 21.45 $
BCC -1.07% 83.24 $
BCE 0.64% 23.47 $
NGG -0.19% 81.05 $
RBGPF 0% 71.34 $
RIO -0.43% 95.68 $
JRI 0.5% 12.61 $
GSK -0.97% 49.52 $
VOD 1.22% 16.42 $
RYCEF 0.62% 20.84 $
CMSD -0.05% 21.58 $
AZN -0.5% 156.45 $
RELX -0.7% 34.43 $
BTI -0.51% 57.06 $
BP 0.52% 42.53 $
Japan Olympic official sorry for 'utterly unacceptable' remarks
Japan Olympic official sorry for 'utterly unacceptable' remarks / Photo: Tiziana FABI - AFP

Japan Olympic official sorry for 'utterly unacceptable' remarks

The head of Japanese bobsleigh apologised on Tuesday and admitted making "utterly unacceptable" remarks that reportedly included an anti-Korean slur.

Text size:

Takahiro Kitano, who is also a Japanese Olympic Committee vice president, made the comments during an investigation into the two-man bobsleigh team's failure to qualify for this year's Milan-Cortina Olympics.

Kitano said in a statement that there were "instances where I failed to maintain my composure" during the internal probe.

The Japanese-language online edition of HuffPost reported that Kitano had used an anti-Korean slur.

"The use of such language is utterly unacceptable for someone entrusted with the management of a public sports organisation and I deeply regret my own lack of judgement," he wrote.

Bitter memories of Japan's brutal occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945 have long cast a shadow over Tokyo-Seoul ties.

Japan missed out on a place in the two-man bobsleigh competition at February's Milan-Cortina Olympics after the federation misunderstood the qualification requirements.

A.Moore--AT