Kanto Univ. T&F Assoc. Clears Toyo University to Run Hakone Ekiden After Sexual Assault Incident

http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/news/20081206ddm035040061000c.html
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2008/12/06/06.html

translated and edited by Mika Tokairin and Brett Larner

The Kanto Regional University Track and Field Association announced its decision following a closed meeting in Tokyo on Dec. 5 that Toyo University will still be allowed to compete in the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden in the wake of a sexual assault scandal involving a member of the university's track and field team.

Sophomore Kazuki Kobayashi, 20, a steeplechase runner on Toyo's track team who was not a member of the school's elite ekiden team, was arrested on Dec. 1 for allegedly molesting a female high school student on a Tokyo commuter train the same morning. Toyo head coach Shinji Kawashima and track and field team administrator Yuji Kawano resigned in the wake of the incident, with Kawashima apologizing for the failure of his leadership.

Kawashima and three other representatives from Toyo met with Kanto Association officials for one hour on Dec. 5 to hear the board's decision regarding whether Toyo's ekiden team would be barred from participating in January's prestigious competition. The Kanto board determined that:

1. This was an incident involving an individual.
2. The perpetrator had reached the age of legal adulthood.
3. The assault did not take place during a team activity.
4. The assault was not a group crime.

In light of these four facts, the board ruled that it would permit the school's ekiden team to run Hakone with the following penalties:

1. Toyo will not receive the $20,000 appearance fee paid to each of the competing schools.
2. Restrictions will be placed upon the degree of support, such as flags and banners bearing Toyo's name or logo, which fans and supporters will be allowed to display along the course during the race.

Kanto Regional University Track and Field Association director Yoshiyuki Aoba sent a warning to students at other big name universities: "This was a grave violation of the spirit of student sportsmanship and completely unacceptable behavior." Aoba went on to explain the board's decision, saying, "We did not feel it was fair for the ekiden team's hard work, both in training and in school, to go to waste due to the actions of an individual who was not a team member." He ended with criticism of Toyo's handling of the incident: "We also question why the coach and head administrator resigned so quickly before all the facts of the case had been ascertained."