Federation to limit perks for high school baseball players

10/12/2007

The Asahi Shimbun

The Japan High School Baseball Federation will limit the scholarships and perks for baseball players in response to revelations of widespread violations of federation rules banning money or gifts to talented ballplayers.

In the guidelines compiled Thursday, an advisory panel proposed that member baseball clubs offer scholarships to only five students each year.

The guidelines are not binding and offenders will not be punished. But the federation expects the guidelines to improve the situation.

Tsutomu Hotta, chairman of the panel, said the guidelines are nonbinding because of wide discrepancies in the opinions of the members.

The 15-member advisory panel was formed in July, after reports surfaced in May that nearly 8,000 baseball players at 376 member schools had been given perks against the federation's rules.

The federation will finalize the guidelines at a board meeting Nov. 30 after hearing the opinions of about 4,200 member schools through the regional boards.

The guidelines will be applied to students enrolling in senior high schools in and after fiscal 2009.
The federation will hold an extraordinary meeting of directors of the nine regional boards on Oct. 18 to explain about the guidelines.

The panel had discussed two other options: limiting the number of player on perks to four in the same grade who are allowed to play in official games or to impose no restrictions.

The panel agreed the guidelines will be implemented tentatively for three years, followed by a review.

If a member club registers more than five players for each year, it will not be penalized but will be required to explain the reasons for the excessive number to the federation.

The guidelines will also require member schools to obtain a letter of recommendation from the principal of student's junior high school when granting a scholarship. This move is intended to prevent the involvement of brokers.

Under the guidelines, students should meet a certain academic level to obtain a scholarship.

The financial perks should be limited to enrollment and tuition fees and not cover the students' club activities or accommodation fees.

The panel concluded that the guidelines do not go against the federation's ban on preferential treatment because the scholarships will be granted as an educational measure under the
Fundamental Law of Education and the School Education Law.

(IHT/Asahi: October 12,2007)