JAPAN

Private country club must equalize membership rules to host Olympic golf competition: IOC

John Coates, vice president of the International Olympic Committee and chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, answers questions at a news conference Thursday in Tokyo after a two-day meeting with the Tokyo organizing committee to discuss progress on preparations. | AFP-JIJI

By Andrew MCKIRDY
Staff Writer

Mar 2, 2017

Kasumigaseki Country Club will be stripped of hosting the Tokyo 2020 Olympic golf tournament if it does not allow women to become full members, the International Olympic Committee warned on Thursday.

"At some point there has to be a cut-off," IOC Vice President John Coates told reporters in Tokyo. "Image-wise, our position is clear: We will only go to a club that has nondiscrimination."

Kasumigaseki, the private club in Saitama Prefecture chosen to host both the men's and women's golf competitions at the Tokyo Games, does not allow women to become full members or play on Sundays.

Private country club must equalize membership rules to host Olympic golf competition: IOC

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