The Olympics have been plunged into a new crisis after the director of the opening ceremony was sacked for joking about the Holocaust more than 20 years ago, while media said former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a strong advocate of the Games, would also not attend.

Kentaro Kobayashi, a well-know comedian and personality, joked about “playing the Jewish Holocaust game” in a sketch recorded in the 1990s, which was unearthed and posted this week on social media.

There have been calls for the spectacular performances planned for the event to be cancelled, in favour of a simple parade of athletes.

“We found out that Mr Kobayashi, in his own performance, has used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy,” Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, said.

“We deeply apologise for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the country.”

She acknowledged the damage done by the repeated scandals, which have only worsened a situation already made difficult by the coronavirus — but insisted that the ceremony and the Games would nonetheless go ahead.

The sketch was published on video-cassette in 1998 and performed by Kobayashi’s comedy duo, the Rahmens. It is a parody of a children’s television program in which one of the characters talks about playing a game with a large number of paper cut-outs of human figures.

The other character, played by Kobayashi, says, “Ah, from that time you said, ‘Let’s play the Jewish Holocaust game.’”

The latest in a series of embarrassments for the Tokyo organisers comes just days after a well-known musician was forced to step down as composer for the ceremony after old reports of his bullying and abusive behaviour surfaced.