Judo.All Japan Judo Federation illicitly received state-backed subsidies totaling 36.2 million yen (S$477,116). June 23th 2013
The All Japan Judo Federation had illicitly obtained 198.7 million yen (S$2.62 million) of state subsidies over six years from 2007 to fund the activities of 27 coaches. The funds were spent mainly on food and drinks for athletes and for entertaining coaches of other nations. However, the 27 coaches were ineligible for the funds as they had either rarely made contact with the athletes they were supposed to instruct or continued receiving the subsidies even after their athletes retired.
The panel set up by the federation to probe the systematic misuse of subsidies said Friday that 27 of the 63 coaches had been in fact ineligible to receive them.
The figure is part of a problematic 60.55 million yen (S$798, 049) out of a total 198.7 million yen (S$2.62 million) in subsidies the federation received over six years from fiscal 2007, the panel said.
Chaired by lawyer Takahiro Yamauchi, the panel also cited the responsibility of federation executives, including Kazuo Yoshimura, who was the head of the committee for training athletes over the six years, and federation chairman Haruki Uemura. The panel concluded that Yoshimura held the greatest responsibility.
The panel released its final report on the investigation of Japan Sport Council subsidies at a press conference on the day at the Kodokan Judo Institute headquarters in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo.
The federation allegedly obliged its coaches to funnel a portion of the money they received from the JSC to the federation and set aside the sum to pay for food and drinks for themselves or others.
The panel said it recognised the 27 coaches were considered ineligible because they either rarely made contact with the athletes they were supposed to instruct or they continued to receive subsidies even after their athletes retired.
Regarding the federation's pairings of coaches and athletes, the final report described the dogmatic decision-making of the then training committee head as "inappropriate," saying the head did not consider at all the opinions of athletes and coaches, while ignoring the list of qualifications stipulated in regulations.
According to the report, many coaches and judoka were not informed beforehand of the pairings. "There is no way to carry out substantial instruction," the report said, severely reprimanding the committee.
The illicit funds were mainly used for food and drinks for athletes and for entertaining coaches of other nations, according to the report. As the funds supplemented the federation's budget and it could not prove the stored funds were not linked to money the federation received and spent, the report indicated the federation's managerial responsibility.
As for the federation executives, the report said Yoshimura, who has since resigned as a board member and left the federation to take responsibility, should bear the heaviest burden. It concluded that the second-greatest responsibility should belong to the person who created the system to store organizational funds, but the report said the panel could not determine who that was.
The report also assigns blame to Uemura and the federation's vice chairman Hiroaki Fujita, the two former heads of the training committee who handled the stored funds. It also named the secretary general Kiyoshi Murakami, saying he had not fulfilled his obligation to take charge of the federation and to improve internal disorganization.
Meanwhile, the federation has expressed a "sense of discomfort" toward the interim report. The panel revealed it had received a stern response from the federation that countered the interim report, but it criticised the response, saying it rejected the panel's opinion without providing reasons.
After receiving the final report, Uemura released the comment: "The report will be discussed at an extraordinary meeting of the board scheduled on Monday, after it is reviewed. We will clarify our opinions in a press conference after the meeting."
Panel head Yamauchi said at Friday's press conference, "I hope [the federation] responds to [the final report] while bearing in mind that this may be their last chance to reform their organisation."
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