Panel Seeks Accountability from Nihon Univ. Chairman

July 31, 2018

Tokyo- A third-party panel set up by Nihon University said Monday that Chairman Hidetoshi Tanaka should accept accountability over a dirty tackle incident involving the university's American football team.

The panel of seven lawyers was set up in May to investigate the cause of the incident and examine the governance of its sports team. A final report was released on Monday.

Tanaka "should fulfill his accountability including by expressing regret and apology," panel leader Mitsuhiro Katsumaru told a press conference.

Tanaka has not shown up to speak in public about the incident or has not issued any written comment.

In response to the report, the university decided the disciplinary dismissal of former coach Masato Uchida and former assistant coach Tsutomu Inoue at an extraordinary board meeting.

Tanaka, President Kichibee Otsuka and other executives will give up part of their pay.

In its interim report released in June, the panel determined that the tackle that injured a Kwansei Gakuin University student in May was conducted at the direction of the coach and the assistant coach.

The final report said the university's governance of the team was a mere name since Uchida concurrently served as chief of the university's health and physical education council.

Tanaka "overlooked the malfunctioning of the governance," the panel also said, calling for university reorganization for better management of sport clubs.

A then university board member tried to cover up the instruction by the coaches. At a meeting with the player who carried out the tackle and his father on May 14, the then executive said the university will take full action against them if they do not agree to deny Uchida's involvement in public, according to the report.

The university's American football club submitted a report including reform plans for its coach system to the Kantoh Collegiate Football Association on July 17.

The association will decide whether to lift the suspension of the university from official competitions in fiscal 2018, at an extraordinary board meeting slated for Tuesday.

In a statement, the university said it fully accepts the report's contents as true and respond sincerely after examining the proposals by the panel. Jiji Press