Okinawa’s First Professional Baseball Team Bankrupts Itself After Less Than Four Years “COVID-19 crisis salary reductions and unpaid salaries” that had surfaced since ’21

The players’ distrust reached its peak when they were notified of the June reduction, which was handled by the team’s executives. Another player revealed, “In Okinawa, the emergency situation was declared from May 23, 2009.

During the period from May 22 to June 9, there was an expedition to Yamaguchi and Kanto to play practice games against Hiroshima’s second team, the Giants’ third team, Saitama Seibu’s second team, and Chiba Lotte’s second team. However, after the tour was over, the team had to leave the country. However, after the tour was over and the players returned to Okinawa, they all received a letter from the baseball team informing them that their salaries for the month of June would be reduced because they would not be able to hold the exhibition games.

FRIDAY Digital obtained a copy of the letter, which was issued uniformly to all players, dated June 23 and purportedly from company president Tomoya Kitagawa. The document reads as follows

＜Due to the declaration of a state of emergency in Okinawa Prefecture, we will not be able to hold any tournaments for the month of June, so the reduction in the contract and memorandum will be applied from June 10.

When most of the players received this notice, their heads were filled with “? They had been on a tour of the Kanto area since May 22 and had already played a few matches. After returning from Okinawa, they were able to complete several scheduled full practices before receiving the notice.

The notice said, “The amount of the reduction is in spite of my full attendance. The players, who were not satisfied with the reason for the reduction, demanded an explanation from Shimizu, who had been appointed GM since the middle of the season, and further demanded that they could not practice as they were.

During this training period, some of the players spoke directly with President Kitagawa by phone. When they asked for the reason for the reduction, Mr. Kitagawa replied, “The team is doing its best to explain the situation. I have no intention of discussing this with you (the player who called ). He added, ” Who do you think you are? If you don’t practice, we won’t pay you any money.” The players resumed general practice.

During the resumed practice, a meeting was held, and the players were told by Director Shimizu the reason for the reduction in the players’ compensation, as given by the team. The players, upon hearing this, interpreted it as follows: “We have a facility that we can use without any problems in normal times.

The players interpreted what they heard as follows: “We are allowed to use facilities and stadiums that we would have no problem using in normal times, but because we are under a declared state of emergency, we are being allowed to use them specially. He explained that such a situation would be classified as a “situation affected by the state of emergency,” and therefore, his compensation would be cut.

Compared to the wording of the “memorandum at the beginning of the fiscal year” and the “letter of notification dated June 23,” both of which were obtained by this magazine, it is difficult to interpret the situation in the above manner. In fact, one player reveals that.

In fact, one player revealed, “Although it is not written (in the memorandum or the letter), if the company says that the amount will be reduced because of such interpretation (as explained in the meeting after the resumption of general practice), as a player, I am at my wits’ end. I think this incident has caused more people to give up and say, ‘It’s impossible (to seek improvements) now.

The suffering of the team’s management during the COVID-19 crisis must have been unimaginable, but the fact that the players were the ones to bear the brunt of it is not something to be satisfied with. In a telephone interview with FRIDAY Digital, Tomoya Kitagawa, then president of the Ryukyu baseball team, who is rarely seen in front of the players, revealed the following.

–In ’21, it seems that following the May salary, the August salary is overdue, but there is no doubt about it.

We are doing everything according to the contract and the memorandum of understanding, but there is a confidentiality obligation. However, due to confidentiality obligations, I cannot give you a detailed explanation of the details.

–What is the reason for the reduction in compensation?

One of the reasons is that a state of emergency has been declared.

–Even under the emergency declaration, the team traveled to Yamaguchi and Kanto, and was able to practice as usual after returning to Okinawa. Still, the players are not satisfied with the reduced amount….
The players are not convinced, but we are not sure what they are saying, but everything has been paid properly in accordance with the contract. Um, as per the contract, the memorandum of understanding.

–What do you think about the situation in which a large number of players have left the team, leaving nine players?

The GM (Director Shimizu) is talking about it now, so I leave it to him. I have no intention of interfering in any way. （I do not expect that we will not be able to gather nine members, and I have heard that a large number of people have tried out, so we are confident that we will be able to gather more than 20 members this year. I believe we can do more than we did this year.

GM and Director Shimizu, who was present at the contract negotiations with the players, stated.

I have a bird’s eye view of the current situation, and I too am asking myself, “Are we going to be okay?” I am not sure if we can do it. I think we need to talk with the team about what the company’s policy will be for acquiring players in the future. Once that policy is decided, I would like to make my own choice, just like the players, based on my own conviction.

When asked if he would sign a contract for the next season, he simply said, “I can only say that I am currently under contract, so I am working,” but after that year, Mr. Shimizu also left the team.

In fact, on October 3, 2009, the day the team restarted, only four members showed up at the practice field. After that, no games were played, and the president was replaced by Satoru Watanabe from President Kitagawa on December 27 of last year. Another player who left the team revealed, “If this is the way it is going to be, I don’t want to be a part of it.

If this was going to happen, it would have been better if they had said clearly, ‘We have no money, so we can’t pay you your salary. If possible, I wanted to stay with this team as long as possible…”

While the team was still “lingering in the afterglow of being the best in the world” after winning the WBC for the first time in 14 years, they were confronted with the harsh reality that the newly established team would come to an end in less than four years.