Jakarta: Four Japanese basketball players – Takuya Hashimoto, Keita Imamura, Yuya Nagayoshi and Takuma Sato have been sent home from the Asian Games for spending the night with women in a hotel here, delegation head Yasuhiro Yamashita said Monday.
The players left the athletes’ Village following their game Thursday against Qatar to eat at a restaurant where they met a Japanese-speaking local, who told them about a bar where they could meet women, Yamashita told a news conference.
The quartet, who was wearing their team uniforms, spent a couple of hours at the bar before checking into a hotel with four women, staying there until Friday morning, he added.
“The Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) decided to withdraw their accreditation and send them back to Japan early this morning,” Yamashita told reporters.
“We have a specific disciplinary code, it’s a clear breach of the code of conduct for the Japanese delegation. The athletes should be role models of society, not only in the sporting venues but also on other occasions,” Yamashita added.
Yamashita said the Japanese Olympic Committee took the issue of discipline in their team very seriously. “A day after our arrival here the Chef de Mission and other top officials told the athletes that they had to be role models in Jakarta,” he informed.
“It’s disappointing that after that instruction and encouragement, this kind of issue happened, I deeply apologise to the Japanese people as the head of the delegation,” added Yamashita.
Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah later commended the JOC on their swift action and said athletes had a responsibility to set a good example at major sporting events.
“Athletes should be an example to society,” the Kuwaiti told a news conference. “To represent your country is not only to stand with medals but also in your dealings with other athletes, officials, volunteers and the people of the host country.”
“The players flew back home at their own expense,” Yamashita informed. “The remaining eight players, officials and coaches will stay here to continue to play for the rest of the competition.”
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