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The story
The Osaka Junior High School Athletic Federation mistook the entry deadline for a national track and field meet, leaving eight qualified middle and high school students unable to compete. On October 3, the Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) said the official in charge had claimed “I accessed the system 10 minutes before the deadline, but the entry button didn’t appear” — but after checking the logs, JAAF found the actual login was only about a minute before the deadline, pointing out the discrepancy and stating “we will not accept late entries.” On 5ch, opinions split between those calling for leniency out of concern for the affected students’ academic and athletic futures, and those arguing that granting an exception would render the deadline meaningless.
Published 10/3 (Sat) 11:58
Yomiuri TV
Regarding the issue in which the Osaka Junior High School Athletic Federation got the entry deadline wrong for eight middle and high schoolers set to compete in a national track and field meet, leaving them unable to participate, the Japan Association of Athletics Federations made clear today (the 3rd) that “we will not accept late entries.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
They're probably trying to drum up public sympathy to force them to allow entry.
Re: #11
Because the prefectural governor posted a request letter on social media trying to win over netizens' sympathy.
It's just an amateur regional-level meet, they could afford to be a bit flexible.
Let them compete.
The students didn't make any mistake, yet they can't compete…
This is bad.
This meet's results affect school admissions, right?
It's a huge problem for the students' futures.
Can't be helped when it comes to deadlines.
And in a way, this is like an entrance exam in the world of sports.
That's just how it is.
If excuses like that got accepted, the deadline itself would become meaningless.
That's what fairness is.
Yeah, this exactly… better to have it done at least 24 hours ahead of time.
It happens every year, so they should've just applied the instant registration opened.
Maybe the person in charge is the type who couldn't finish their summer homework until right before the first day back at school.
This should be a wake-up call to rethink that.
You're moving the goalposts.
According to JAAF, the entry period this time ran from 12:00 on August 21 to 18:00 on September 24. After the deadline, the Osaka official reported that "I tried to submit the entry on the system about 10 minutes before the deadline, but the submit button didn't appear." However, when JAAF checked the system logs, it turned out the official had actually logged into the entry system only about one minute before the deadline. There was also no record of the official logging into the system any earlier than that.
What were they actually doing…
I mean, the registration period was a whole month long, why didn't they just get it done right away…?
See, lying like this is exactly what made people think worse of them.
And why cut it so close in the first place?
It's not like they didn't know registration started on the 21st.
You've gotta act with some margin to spare.
(´・ω・`)
Maybe they should've at least sent a mass reminder email to every school's track team 24 hours before the deadline.
Actually, that might be exactly how they noticed.
If they saw the email, they might've gone "wait, is it today?"
The person apparently thought the deadline was the 28th,
and logging in one minute before means something must have prompted them to act —
maybe a notice from someone other than the federation.
Probably because there's also athlete selection involved?
They'd want to enter whoever's fastest at that point.
It's a national meet, so to begin with only people who've cleared the qualifying standard even have the right to enter.
They just register everyone who already qualifies.
Yeah, they weighed the risk and lost, that's all.
The battle starts before you even submit the entry.
From an educational standpoint, kids should be taught that society's rules can't just be bent.
If the student themselves forgot, sure, but it's not right for a kid to bear the consequences of a teacher's screwup.
Meaning complain to the teacher, not the federation.
Educationally speaking, that's just how society is, so it has to be taught that way.
That's the most important part right there.
Seeing this, it does seem kind of pitiable.
Yeah, it really could affect things all the way through high school and college.
Why try to submit at the last minute when there was plenty of time?
If they allow late entries, the deadline loses all meaning.
They had the wrong deadline memorized.
They happened to realize it was actually the deadline.
With 10 minutes to spare, they figured they'd make it.
Rules and feelings are separate things, and if you allow one exception there's no end to it.
The responsibility lies with the official who got it wrong — it's got nothing to do with JAAF.
You think every rule has zero exceptions? lol
It's not even something handled on an individual basis, and depending on the competition it could shape the rest of someone's life, yet the student themselves had no way to avoid it — that's just too harsh.
So I think there should be pre-defined exceptions for certain cases, not a blanket no-exceptions policy.
If the student forgot to submit it themselves, then fine, tough luck, end of story.
Background and Points of Contention
Entry deadlines for national meets are strictly enforced in order to treat every qualified athlete fairly. JAAF is an independent body that governs the sport, not a local government entity, so even though the governor of Osaka Prefecture made a public request, it falls outside JAAF’s jurisdiction and doesn’t directly influence any decision on relief. In this case, system logs revealed a discrepancy between the official’s claim — “I accessed the system 10 minutes before the deadline, but the submit button didn’t appear” — and the actual login time, which was only about one minute before the deadline, raising questions about the credibility of the explanation itself, beyond simply missing the deadline. Because the meet’s results factor into recommendations and scouting from high schools and universities, opinions were divided over how far relief should extend given that the students themselves bore no responsibility for the mistake.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “JAAF States Position: “No Late Entries Accepted” — Deadline Mix-Up Bars 8 Middle and High Schoolers From National Track Meet.”
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