Disgraced Japanese basketball players suspended after buying sex at Asian Games

The four basketball players who allegedly paid women for sex in Jakarta during the ongoing Asian Games have been handed one-year suspensions, officials said on Wednesday.

Yuko Mitsuya, chief of the Japan Basketball Association (JBA), told reporters that the basketballers “lacked the sense of pride and responsibility” that Japanese players should have.

“A yearlong ban is significant for the athletes, but I still want to give them a second chance (after the ban). I will communicate with their clubs and discuss how we should guide them,” she added.

Earlier this month, the players - Yuya Nagayoshi, Takuya Hashimoto, Keita Imamura and Takuma Sato – were spotted in a notorious red-light district of Jakarta wearing their national jerseys and leaving a bar accompanied by four women.

Because of this, they were kicked off Japan’s Asian Games team and sent home from Indonesia on 20 August.

JBA officials to be sanctioned too

According to Mitsuya, due to the scandal, her salary would be cut 10 per cent for three months, and the salaries of other three JBA officials would be cut by the same amount for two months.

'This is a very foolish and disappointing problem, but the truth cannot be changed,' the JBA chief said. 'So, I think it is our top challenge to learn and grow from this problem.'

The eight remaining Japanese basketball players at the Asian Games have continued to compete.

They were beaten by Iran in the quarter-finals on Monday and are now due to face Indonesia on Friday to decide the seventh and eighth positions.