The governor of Tokyo issued a "sincere apology" at a news conference on Tuesday for his comments about Istanbul's bid for the 2020 Olympic Games, according to a report of BBC.

Naoki Inose, replacing Shintaro Ishihara late last year as the chairman of the Tokyo bid committee, was quoted last weekend in the New York Times criticizing facilities in Istanbul and saying Islamic countries were "fighting with each other."

Turkey's sports minister said the remarks were "unfair and disheartening," Reuters reported.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has rules preventing candidate cities commenting on their rivals.

Inose admitted the remarks had been "inappropriate" and promised that from now on he would campaign "strictly in accordance with the IOC rules."

Madrid is also in the running with Istanbul and Tokyo. The ballot will take place on Sept. 7.

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