Tokyo Olympic organizers scrapped1 the logo for the 2020 Games on Tuesday following another allegation that its Japanese designer might have used copied materials.
面对日本设计师涉嫌抄袭的新一轮指控,东京奥组委9月1日宣布弃用2020年奥运会会徽。
Reversing their earlier support for Kenjiro Sano against allegations of
plagiarizing2 the design, the organizers said the decision came after new
accusations3 over the weekend.
"We have reached a conclusion that it would be only appropriate for us to drop the logo and develop a new emblem," said Toshio Muto, director-general of the Tokyo organizing committee. "At this point, we have
decided4 that the logo cannot gain public support." Muto said the organizing committee will have another competition to decide a new logo as soon as possible.
The logo has faced
scrutiny5 since a Belgian designer took legal action
alleging6 that it resembled one of his works.
Organizers had defended Sano at a recent news conference when they released his original design-which had been changed to its final shape to stress its
authenticity7. But this triggered fresh allegations over the original design.
Sano stood by his design but offered to withdraw the logo during discussions with the organizers on Monday. Sano has faced allegations of
plagiarism8 since the logo's
debut9 in July. The latest suspicion surfaced late on Monday, when he was
alleged10 to have taken a photograph from someone else's website for use in his presentation of the Olympic logo. Sano also allegedly altered part of a photograph of a Tokyo airport lobby, replacing images of banners hanging from the ceiling with those of his Olympic logo.