JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Atsushi Igarashi, Yoichiro Kuriyama, Misa Takahashi and Kosuke Ojio, TMI Associates
1. Regulatory 1.1 Anti-Doping
year eight instances of doping violations were reported. 1.2 Integrity There is no law in Japan that specifically deals with an athlete’s misconduct/cheating and match-fixing offences. That said, if an athlete commits an act alleged to be illegal under the Penal Code or public gambling laws, the athlete will be punished. In addition, the sports organi - sation to which the offender belongs may punish them under its own rules. Each sports organisation offers compliance training to its athletes in order to prevent illegal acts and misconduct from occurring. For example, in the J.League, the top profes - sional football league in Japan, the early warning system introduced by FIFA is used to prevent match-fixing. In 2011, a sumo wrestling match-fixing scan - dal arose, causing the spring tournament to be cancelled. More than 40 sumo wrestlers and masters were asked to retire or had their dismissal recommended. In 2020, a boat racer was sentenced to imprisonment with labour for three years and a supplementary fine of approxi - mately JPY37 million for their involvement in a match-fixing scheme whereby they intentionally delayed finishing a boat race in order to receive an illicit payment. In the same year, a director of a football club that belonged to the J.League (fourth division) unfairly requested the coach and players to fix a match. The request was rejected and the Japan Football Association banned the director from any football-related activities for two years.
There is no law in Japan imposing criminal pen - alties for doping. The Japan Anti-Doping Agency (the “JADA” ), which is responsible for all anti- doping activities in Japan, was established in 2001. In addition to determining standard dop - ing test processes for Japan and implementing doping control procedures, the JADA conducts anti-doping education and awareness cam - paigns. The JADA established the Japan Anti- Doping Code (the “JADC” ), which is based on the World Anti-Doping Code established by the World Anti-Doping Agency (the “WADA” ) and incorporated the WADA’s prohibited list. The prohibited list is updated annually by the WADA and includes substances such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin, which are illegal drugs in Japan. In October 2018, the Act on the Promotion of Anti-Doping Activities in Sport (Law No 58 of 2018) was enacted as Japan’s first anti-doping law. In March 2019, the Basic Policies for the Comprehensive Promotion of Measures Related to Anti-Doping Activities in Sports, which estab - lishes the basic policy frameworks for anti-dop - ing activities, were enacted in line with Article 11(1) of the Act on the Promotion of Anti-Doping Activities in Sport. In 2017, a candidate for inclusion on the Japa - nese national canoe team mixed a banned sub - stance in the beverage bottle of one of his rivals causing the rival to be suspended. This disquali - fication was later nullified and the player who mixed the banned substance was banned by the national federation from competing for eight years. Instances of doping violations in Japan are published on the JADA website, and last
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