Olympics-Opening ceremony director fired on Tokyo Games eve over Holocaust joke

FILE PHOTO: Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), applauds after presenting Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with the Olympic Order award at the Japan Olympic Museum in Tokyo, Japan November 16, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) -Tokyo Olympics organisers have fired the opening ceremony director on the eve of the event after reports emerged of a past joke he had made about the Holocaust, while media said former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a strong advocate of the Games, would not attend.

The latest in a series https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tokyo-2020-plagued-by-embarrassing-scandals-gaffes-2021-07-22 of embarrassments for the Tokyo organisers comes just days after a well-known musician was forced to step down https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tokyo-2020-organisers-want-composer-who-apologised-bullying-stay-2021-07-19 as composer for the ceremony after old reports of his bullying and abusive behaviour surfaced.