Japan have sent home four players from their Asian Games men’s basketball team for spending the night with women in a Jakarta hotel, delegation head Yasuhiro Yamashita said yesterday.
The players on Thursday left the athletes’ village following their game 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 were 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.
Officials named the players as Takuya Hashimoto, Keita Imamura, Yuya Nagayoshi and Takuma Sato.
“The Japanese Olympic Committee [JOC] decided to withdraw their accreditation and send them back to Japan early this morning,” Yamashita said.
“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 said, adding that the JOC took the issue of discipline in their team very seriously.
Japan, who won basketball bronze at the last Asian Games four years ago, beat Qatar 82-71 in their second game in Jakarta and top-qualifying Group C. Their next game is against Hong Kong tomorrow.
“The players flew back home at their own expense,” Yamashita added. “The remaining eight players, officials and coaches will stay here to continue to play for the rest of the competition.”
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