The Japan Basketball Association decided on Thursday not to reinstate the coaching license of a former high school teacher, saying he has not shown sufficient remorse for the corporal punishment that led to the suicide of a student.
Japan Basketball Association logo. (Joint)
In December 2012, a 17-year-old student who was the captain of the basketball team at Sakuranomiya High School in Osaka took his own life after being punched more than a dozen times for a mistake during a practice match a few days earlier.
The incident sparked a movement to address violence and abuse of power in Japanese sports.
The teacher admitted to daily assaults, and the local school board fired him in February 2013 for routinely assaulting members. In October of the same year he was found guilty of manslaughter.
His basketball coaching license was revoked by the JBA in June 2013, but according to the association's regulations, he can request that it be reinstated after 10 years. The man applied in February of this year.
A mediation committee made up of three external lawyers from the JBA examined the materials provided by the former teacher and interviewed the bereaved family members.
The committee found that the man cornered the student and then assaulted him, and showed little apology or deep remorse even after he was fired.
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