A former amateur rugby player has reached a settlement with TV Asahi over its coverage of a rape allegation against him, according to the plaintiff's lawyers.
The settlement was reached Tuesday at the Tokyo High Court between a former member of Teikyo University's rugby team and his family and Asahi National Broadcasting Co., they said.
The former student and his family filed a damages suit against TV Asahi claiming the report had defamed him, but the Tokyo District Court dismissed the suit in June 2001. The man and his family appealed to the high court.
The lawyers did not reveal the conditions of the settlement and the family has asked that the man's name be withheld.
According to the June 2001 ruling, the man was arrested with other teammates in January 1998 on suspicion of raping a 19-year-old female company employee in a karaoke booth in November 1997.
But a settlement was reached between the man, his teammates and the victim. Prosecutors then dropped the charge against him.
TV Asahi covered the case on its gossip shows, describing it as a "group rape by the Teikyo University rugby team," identifying the man.
The man and his family also lodged a similar libel suit against Fuji Television Network Inc. In that case, both the district and high courts ordered the broadcaster to pay 1 million yen to the plaintiffs in compensation.