The resignation this week of the president of the Japan Amateur Boxing Federation following multiple allegations of misconduct, ranging from misuse of grant money to suspicions that he pressured referees to fix matches and his relationship with a former gang leader, is only the latest scandal that has rocked the nation's amateur sports establishment. The list of other problems includes power harassment by a Japan Wrestling Federation director against a four-time Olympic champion and her coach, and a dirty hit by a player on the Nihon University Phoenix football team that allegedly had been ordered by the team's coaches.
A common feature in these scandals is the rigid and closed ways in which the sports governing bodies or teams have been run by leaders who wielded power to the extent that no criticism was accepted, to the detriment of the athletes' interests. The leaders stepped down after the problems were finally exposed through complaints by insiders. But a mere change in leadership will not resolve the problems or the poor governance in these organizations that bred the alleged misconduct. People involved need to get the bottom of the problems at hand and reform the organizations in ways that put the athletes' interests first.
The allegations against 78-year-old boxing federation chief Akira Yamane, who had run the body since 2011 and was even given the title "president for life," can only be met with shock. Yamane, who tendered his resignation Wednesday, apologized for improperly dividing the Japan Sports Council grant provided to a boxer who took part in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games with two other fighters. He denied applying pressure on referees to give favorable scores to boxers from his native Nara Prefecture — despite testimony by three referees to that effect. But he acknowledged personal ties with a former leader of a criminal organization — a fact that should have disqualified him from the position in the first place.