OLYMPIC GAMES GOLF VENUE VOTES TO ALLOW WOMEN AS FULL MEMBERS

Games golf venue votes for equality

The Kasumigaseki Country Club

21 Mar 2017
by Golf Australia

Golf at the 2020 Olympic Games will proceed at its originally intended venue after the club voted to allow women to become full members overnight.

The Kasumigaseki Country Club, north-west of Tokyo, has long had restrictions on women's membership, including limiting the days women were allowed to play.

These conditions were in conflict with the International Olympic Committee's non-discrimination principles and Australian Olympic boss John Coates, also chairman of the Tokyo 2020 Co-ordination Commission, worked closely with the local organising committee to ensure they were changed.

Those discussions paid off overnight with the Kasumigaseki CC board voting to allow women to become full members of the club at an extraordinary board meeting.

"Gender equality is a fundamental principle of the Olympic movement ... and we believe this decision now reflects this," Coates said.

"While we had made our position on non-discrimination clear as soon as we became aware of their rules, it was important that the members of the club be given the opportunity to make the change in their good time.

"It is their club and at the end of the day we had to be welcomed by them."

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