Nihon Univ. Football Player Admits Coach’s Instruction behind Vicious Tackle

May 22, 2018

Tokyo- A member of Nihon University's American football team, at the center of a nationwide controversy over dirty play, admitted Tuesday that he conducted a dangerous tackle against a rival team's quarterback to injure him in a recent match at the instruction of his own team's coach and assistant coach.

At a closely watched press conference in Tokyo, the Nihon University player, Taisuke Miyagawa, said he is deeply sorry for hurting the Kwansei Gakuin University quarterback and causing trouble to people concerned.

"The assistant coach told me that the coach wanted me to crush the quarterback in the first round of play," Miyagawa revealed. "When I met the coach to tell him that I would crush (the quarterback), the coach said that I would be useless if I didn't do it." He added that he understood the meaning of "crush" as "inflict injury."

Miyagawa said he was not in a position to reject the director's instructions. "I didn't want to be excluded even from the team's training," he noted.

During a regular match between the two universities on May 6, Miyagawa tackled the Kwansei Gakuin University quarterback from behind when the opposition player became unguarded after throwing a ball. He suffered injuries to his back and right knee that will take three weeks to heal.

Miyagawa said he and his parents met with the Kwansei Gakuin University player and related people to offer an apology.

On Saturday, the Nihon University coach, Masato Uchida, resigned over the incident, without clarifying whether he gave the instruction of vicious play.

In response to Kwansei Gakuin University's complaint, Nihon University has claimed in a written answer that behind the incident was a misunderstanding between the coach and the player.

Unconvinced by the Nihon University side's response, the injured player's father held a press conference Monday to announce the submission of a complaint to the Osaka Prefectural Police Department. Jiji Press