Yuko Arimori, vice president of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF), blackmails the Hokkaido Athletics Association for failing to pay 7.35 million in registration fees!

Yuko Arimori, 56, vice president of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF), was interviewed by FRIDAY Digital in an exclusive interview regarding the issue of the Hokkaido Athletics Association’s failure to pay 735,500 yen in athlete registration fees to the JAAF for fiscal 2010, which were collected from junior high, high school, university students and others . If I were a child in Hokkaido, I would be angry.

Each athletic organization is in dire financial straits due to the COVID-19 crisis, the withdrawal of sponsors in the wake of the economic downturn, and reductions in sponsorships and broadcasting rights fees. The Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) is no exception, and as a last-ditch measure, decided to raise athlete registration fees at its September 2008 board meeting.

Although the registration fee differs from prefecture to prefecture, it is less than ¥1,000 per athlete per year for junior and senior high school students, and between ¥1,500 and ¥4,000 for university students and adults, and is used to finance the local athletic federations.
From this amount, a “data bank fee” is paid to the Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF). The fee for junior and senior high school students was 50 yen and 100 yen for university students and the general public, but in FY2009 the fee per athlete was increased to 500 yen for junior and senior high school students and 1,000 yen for university students and above, a substantial tenfold increase.

“In FY’20, the federation’s income is expected to decrease by about 60% from the original budget.” In FY 2008, we are thoroughly downsizing and reducing all programs and making efforts to cut various expenses, but a significant deficit is inevitable.

Therefore, we have accelerated our consideration of securing a new independent financial resource, and proposed at the board meeting that we ask for the cooperation of all registered members to pay the registration fee from the fiscal year 2009. After considering various opinions and discussing the amount of the fee, the decision was made” (excerpt from the JAAF website).

If the payment of the “top-up fee” increases, the local JAAF will suffer a major blow as their share will decrease, but the fact that only the JAAF has not paid the fee is a clear violation of the rules. Article 8 of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) Rules for Registered Members stipulates that “registration fees must be paid,” and failure to do so will result in disqualification of athletes and erasure of their rankings and records. It is understandable that the junior and senior high school students were angered and concerned by the adults’ improper accounting practices, wondering what was going on, even though they had paid their registration fees in full. Where in the world did the 7.35 million yen or so go?