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The story
At its board meeting on August 20, the Japan Football Association (JFA) reported the results of an investigation by outside lawyers into allegations of “inappropriate sexual hospitality” toward referees who officiated international matches held in South Korea between March 2011 and March 2012. Based on interviews with six of the seven referees involved and a written response from the seventh, the JFA said it “could not confirm the facts.” On the forum, though, users pointed out that “can’t confirm” isn’t the same as “didn’t happen,” and many questioned the fact that South Korea’s own investigation had already been closed under the statute of limitations.
The Japan Football Association (JFA) held a board meeting in Tokyo on the 20th. JFA Managing Director Kazuyuki Yukawa reported the findings of an investigation into South Korean media reports alleging that the Korea Football Association had provided inappropriate sexual hospitality to foreign referees — including Japanese officials — who worked international matches held in South Korea between March 2011 and March 2012.
Managing Director Yukawa explained: “With the cooperation of lawyers from an outside law firm, we have carefully worked to verify the facts behind these media reports. Based on the reporting, the lawyers interviewed six of the seven referees named, and confirmed matters with the remaining one in writing. As a result, we were unable to confirm the allegations reported — including that the Korea Football Association pressured referees over match outcomes, or that any inappropriate hospitality took place.”
Of the seven referees involved, one declined to be interviewed directly but reportedly gave a written response clearly denying the media reports.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
There's gotta be evidence still lying around.
Apparently whenever there was a Korea national team match
they were wining and dining foreign referees non-stop
so many cases that even the Korean side reportedly lost count lol
That's exactly why the Korean side shut the case down
which means the truth just ends up buried in the dark
> Korea Football Association sexual-hospitality allegations toward foreign referees: police say "statute of limitations has passed"
They'll probably just ignore it.
Sounds like some Maebashi mayor's excuse (a nod to a Japanese politician mocked for a similar implausible alibi).
I think this every single time —
not being able to say "we confirmed nothing happened"
leaves nothing but the impression of gray leaning toward black
They can't confirm that either —
it's just an interview-based inquiry to begin with.
That's what they call "proving a negative" (lit. "the devil's proof").
That's nothing alike lol
The thing is, they're the ones who shut it down
if Korea were actually investigating, this stuff would come out
The Korean side sealed it up, so no evidence is coming out now lol
I'm honestly starting to hate how cover-up-prone soccer culture is
Apparently this has been going on since the '80s,
so there's no way it stops at that number.
If this is for real, that's straight-up garbage.
Even just treating someone to a meal breaks the rules
it's not about whether it's a brothel or not
It's not illegal.
No, that's not okay
both cash and hospitality are against the rules
They should investigate properly instead of covering for anyone.
Honestly
from Japan's side there's no way to investigate unless Korea hands over evidence lol
They don't even have investigative authority in Korea
Having the people involved investigate themselves is pointless —
they just want to make it never happened.
What exactly do you want the association to do about something that happened in another country?
Even the police have no investigative authority abroad
tell me if there's actually a way.
Shouldn't the AFC or FIFA step in and investigate?
FIFA gets called dirtier than Olympic vested interests — no way you can trust them
given how many referees might be involved, I'd bet it's not just them but everyone around them who's rotten
Even if they step in, if everyone just says "we didn't do it" that's the end of it — pointless
this case needs Korean public authorities to actually act
Background and Key Points
Couldn’t Confirm the Facts”: JFA Publishes Findings on Probe Into Alleged Sexual Bribery of 7 Referees
The JFA’s referee-conduct rules bar officials from accepting hospitality — cash or otherwise — from a national federation whose matches they officiate, a standard FIFA-aligned norm meant to keep match officials free of any appearance of influence. The allegations here trace back to South Korean media reports that the Korea Football Association plied foreign referees, Japanese included, with “sexual hospitality” around 2011-2012 matches, with some reports claiming the practice dated to the 1980s and involved dozens of officials. Crucially, South Korean police already closed their own inquiry after the statute of limitations lapsed, meaning whatever evidence exists on the Korean side was never compelled into the open. The JFA’s outside-counsel investigation was interview-only — six referees spoke directly, one responded in writing — with no subpoena power and, as posters noted, no jurisdiction to investigate inside Korea at all.
The thread’s real fault line wasn’t over guilt or innocence but over what “could not confirm” is allowed to mean. Several posters flagged the logical gap between “we found no evidence” and “we found evidence it didn’t happen,” calling the finding an unfalsifiable non-answer rather than an exoneration.
What outside readers likely miss is the structural bind the JFA was in: without Korean police cooperation or FIFA/AFC intervention, a foreign national federation has no lawful mechanism to investigate conduct that allegedly happened on another country’s soil, however serious the allegations. The thread’s skepticism toward FIFA as a potential arbiter (citing its own credibility problems) went unresolved, and no poster addressed whether Japan could refer the matter upward to the AFC or FIFA’s ethics committee, leaving open whether any body actually has the authority to investigate further.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuhou+) thread “JFA Publishes Findings on Investigation Into “7 Referees Inappropriate Hospitality” Allegations: “Facts Could Not Be Confirmed,” Determined by Outside Lawyers’ Investigation“.
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