As a lot of people seem to think that federation was too harsh, I would like to put some notes. I am not speaking for Oda, for Federation, or for Japan. Please note that these are my personal observations based on what I read in the Japanese news.
I think that the Japanese skating federation tried not to be too harsh, but to be educational. According to what's been reported, the president of the federation, Seiko Hashimoto, who is also a member of the house of councilors and ex-olympian in speed skating, initially thought that oda should be suspended from competitions until the end of the season. But many other members of the ethical committee thought that it would be too harsh. They did not want to ruin his entire season. So they decided to suspend him from competition for only five months, instead of the entire season. The vice chairperson of the ethical committee commented that oda was usually a decent, model/ideal young man.
Judging from what was reported, they seemed to be basically trustful and wanted to give him an opportunity to grow. I personally liked the way they assigned him community services for the elderly, kids, and so forth.
Besides, they would really want to keep the three spots in Worlds for the next season and Oda's participation in this season's Worlds is indispensable for that.
But the Japanese Olympic committee seems to be harsher. Not only they decided to stop financial support for at least three month, but also they are not sure if they would resume the support. One of the committee members commented that the incident of oda affected the repetition of the moral held by the entire sports.
I don’t know if this is the only major, regular source of income for oda (except for extra incomes through ice shows and other events) though. For example, I am not sure if the financial support oda was receiving from the Japanese skating federation was directly from them in addition to this, or actually through JOC. Anyone knows?
In any case, it might be a bit difficult for oda to seek other alternative financial resources for a while, such as sponsorships from big corporations, because of the incident that somewhat damaged his marketable image as a bright, ideal athlete. Currently, the queen of commercials of large corporations is Mao, whose image has been extremely positive and bright so far.
But even if he cannot train abroad due to financial problems, oda is still extremely lucky in that his university built a rink for them and his mother is one of his coaches. There are also many other talented instructors in japan. Even though they are expensive, he can still save money to travel to, and board in, Canada. So I feel, and am hoping, that the financial problems would not affect oda too critically.
Besides, I personally think it good for Oda that he received social sanctions that may appear to be a little bit harsh. Otherwise, he couldn't save his face and repetition in society as a fair athlete. Without the audience, figure skating cannot exist.
Some people in Japan still thought that the sanction was not harsh enough. But I strongly believe that he would eventually recover the public trust through his behaviors and accomplishments.
I think that the Japanese skating federation tried not to be too harsh, but to be educational. According to what's been reported, the president of the federation, Seiko Hashimoto, who is also a member of the house of councilors and ex-olympian in speed skating, initially thought that oda should be suspended from competitions until the end of the season. But many other members of the ethical committee thought that it would be too harsh. They did not want to ruin his entire season. So they decided to suspend him from competition for only five months, instead of the entire season. The vice chairperson of the ethical committee commented that oda was usually a decent, model/ideal young man.
Judging from what was reported, they seemed to be basically trustful and wanted to give him an opportunity to grow. I personally liked the way they assigned him community services for the elderly, kids, and so forth.
Besides, they would really want to keep the three spots in Worlds for the next season and Oda's participation in this season's Worlds is indispensable for that.
But the Japanese Olympic committee seems to be harsher. Not only they decided to stop financial support for at least three month, but also they are not sure if they would resume the support. One of the committee members commented that the incident of oda affected the repetition of the moral held by the entire sports.
I don’t know if this is the only major, regular source of income for oda (except for extra incomes through ice shows and other events) though. For example, I am not sure if the financial support oda was receiving from the Japanese skating federation was directly from them in addition to this, or actually through JOC. Anyone knows?
In any case, it might be a bit difficult for oda to seek other alternative financial resources for a while, such as sponsorships from big corporations, because of the incident that somewhat damaged his marketable image as a bright, ideal athlete. Currently, the queen of commercials of large corporations is Mao, whose image has been extremely positive and bright so far.
But even if he cannot train abroad due to financial problems, oda is still extremely lucky in that his university built a rink for them and his mother is one of his coaches. There are also many other talented instructors in japan. Even though they are expensive, he can still save money to travel to, and board in, Canada. So I feel, and am hoping, that the financial problems would not affect oda too critically.
Besides, I personally think it good for Oda that he received social sanctions that may appear to be a little bit harsh. Otherwise, he couldn't save his face and repetition in society as a fair athlete. Without the audience, figure skating cannot exist.
Some people in Japan still thought that the sanction was not harsh enough. But I strongly believe that he would eventually recover the public trust through his behaviors and accomplishments.
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