Held every four years, the Asian Games are basically the Olympics but just for Asia (as you probably figured out from the name). So they’re kinda a big deal for countries like Japan, who send their athletes to compete against 45 other nations for the right to be the best on the continent in various sports.
So there’s a certain expectation that followed the Japanese basketball squad into the 2018 Asian Games, held in Indonesia. The competition began on Thursday and the Japanese team got off to a great start, defeating Qatar. To celebrate, four players went out for dinner in Jakarta wearing their team uniforms (which hopefully they washed?).
At dinner, they were solicited by touts, locals who try to tempt tourists into scams and unsavory activities, who offered to show the players where they could meet some women. After spending time at a bar, the players and the women retreated to a nearby hotel and didn’t emerge until Friday morning. According to Japanese news agency Kyodo News, the players paid the women for sex and have now been sent home.
Japan will continue playing in the Games, only they’re down to eight players from here on out.
“I feel a sense of shame,” Japan’s chef de mission Yasuhiro Yamashita said. “We deeply apologize and intend to give the athletes thorough guidance from now on.”
Yamashita added that the players all flew back home “at their own expense.” So, at least they didn’t spend all their money at the hotel.
