Japan Amateur Boxing Head Defends Himself over Alleged Misconduct

August 3, 2018

Osaka- The embattled chairman of the Japan Amateur Boxing Federation has come out to make a defense against allegations of subsidy misappropriation and unfair judgement, the latest in a series of sporting scandals in the country.

"I can't accept the expression 'misappropriation' as I did it for the future of players," Akira Yamane told Jiji Press on Thursday.

The remark came after the boxing federation "regrettably" admitted the mishandling of 2.4 million yen in grant money given by the Japan Sport Council to Daisuke Narimatsu, a boxer who participated in the 2016 Olympics.

Last week, an amateur boxing support group submitted a complaint to the Japanese Olympic Committee and others, claiming that Yamane ordered Narimatsu to share the funds equally with two other boxers. The three boxers eventually received 800,000 yen each, according to the group.

The group also suspects that Yamane's influence was behind dubious judgements in recent boxing matches.

Yamane flatly denied the suspected influence over judges and suggested taking legal action on this issue.

He expressed his readiness to hold a press conference soon. "I'll tell everything," he said. Jiji Press