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2012 July 25 - 31 TOP3 [ARTS AND SPORTS]

PM should follow pro-ball players’ attitude of defiance toward US

Akahata ‘Current’ column

Chairman of the Japan Professional Baseball Players’ Association, Arai Takahiro (Hanshin Tigers) announced a “painful” decision that members of the association will boycott the 3rd World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international baseball tournament, scheduled to be held in March 2013, if it takes place under the current pro-U.S. operation policy. Japan won both the first and second tournaments, so what is the reason for the decision?

The association made the decision in protest against unfair operations of the tournament such as its mechanism for profit distribution. It claims that even though Japanese corporations contribute to 70% of the event’s total sponsorship revenues, the event managing company, which was jointly established by the U.S. Major League Baseball association (MLB) and its players’ association, distributes only 13% of profits from the event to Japan, while 60% goes to the U.S. , including the MLB.

Many examples of unfair treatment emerged in the past two WBC tournaments. For example, U.S. umpires were allowed to judge the U.S. team’s games. Calling for fairness in the WBC as a global event, the Japanese pro-ball players demand that the U.S.-created event treat Japan equally. The players in their resolution says, “If we participate in the event by making easy concessions on our demands, we will regret passing on a negative legacy to future Japanese baseball players.” They also showed their determination to protect the value of Japanese baseball from the U.S.

In contrast, the Noda Administration is incapable of objecting to the U.S. plan to deploy dangerous Osprey aircraft to Japan. It refuses to assert Japan’s independence as a peaceful nation, compromises with the U.S. government easily, and intends to hand down even more negative legacies to future generations.