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Tokyo 2020 Golf Venue's Ban On Female Members Drawing Criticism From IOC

Golf faces the prospect of another "sexism" controversy as it has emerged that the IOC has "expressed its serious misgivings" about the 2020 Olympics events being staged on a Tokyo course which "not only excludes women from being full members -- but bans them altogether from playing on Sundays," according to James Corrigan of the London TELEGRAPH. Sources confirmed that the IOC has been in contact with the Int'l Golf Federation, which oversees golf in the Games, to "see if Kasumigaseki Country Club can be persuaded to change its policies." And, "if not, whether the male and female competitions can be switched to another Tokyo course." After the zika "debacle," the mosquito-born disease which kept four of the world’s top five male golfers from playing in Rio last year, "this is the last thing golf needs as it strives to consolidate its place in the Olympics." The women’s game "joyously welcomed golf’s return to the roster after a 112-year absence, believing it would help the professional game escape the shadows cast by their male equivalents." However, "playing at a venue where the genders are not given equal footing on a weekly basis would obviously not be a good look" (TELEGRAPH, 1/17). The AP reported the Kasumigaseki Country Club, founded in '29, "is one of the oldest private clubs in Japan." Tokyo 2020 organizers said, "The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee will continue studying the club owner's policy on the membership eligibility and responses to the public discussion." Kasumigaseki has "hosted more top-level tournaments than any other golf course in Japan." Tokyo organizers said that the club has hosted various national competitions including the Japan Women's Open Golf Championship in '99, and "it fully meets requirements for the Olympic-level golf competitions" (AP, 1/18).

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