"Next year will be time to take a new step forward. It will be the JASA's 100th anniversary, a crucial time. I would like to be allowed to serve out my term in March next year," the 72-year-old Mori said at an association board meeting.

"A new start means a new face will be needed and hopefully a suitable person will be elected," he said.

Although Mori had already passed retirement age, he was reelected to a third two-year term last March to handle preparations for the JASA's centenary anniversary project in 2011 and other outstanding issues.

Mori's decision was met with surprise by Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda.

"I am surprised," said Takeda. "I thought he would be able to keep pouring all his power into Japanese sports for quite some time to come. This is all so sudden I am not really sure what to say."

JOC Secretary General Noriyuki Ichihara added, "This is a real shame and a shock. The former prime minister has done his utmost for Japanese sports and I would like to express my respect."