Handball replays could cost Tokyo 2016 Olympics though boost relations with Korea

However, in a country where saving face is crucial and relations with Korea are touchy, standing up against a perceived injustice against their neighbours on Japanese soil may prove more important.

The handball dispute erupted in September 2007 after Kuwait defeated Korea in a men’s Olympic qualifying tournament held in Japan (click here to read more). The Kuwaitis were the beneficiaries of some highly questionable refereeing decisions, leading to protests by Korea at both the AHF (Asian Handball Federation) and the IHF (International Handball Federation). The Japanese offered strong support to the Koreans in their criticism of the incident. The Korean women’s team also lost out to Kazakhstan under dubious circumstances, in a tournament where neither still nor motion photography was permitted.

The IHF and IOC, though not the AHF, endorsed replays in both the men’s and women’s competition as a result of the dubious decisions. The replays have now been held, with Korea defeating Japan in Japan in both the men’s and women’s tournaments, securing berths at the Beijing Games for both Korean teams. The Japanese will now take part in a last chance qualifying tournament for Beijing in May against teams from outside Asia. Kuwait will participate in neither the qualifier nor the Olympics.

However, Japan’s decision to back the Koreans may come at heavy price for Tokyo’s 2016 Olympic bid.

The replays have not gone down well at the AHF, which has its headquarters in Kuwait. Speaking after confirmation of the replays was made by the IHF, AHF chief, Kuwaiti Prince Sheikh Fahad, told reporters before the replay “I lost my trust in Japan. I cannot support Tokyo's Olympic bid,” reports Agence France Presse.

As the President of the Olympic Council of Asia, the Prince’s opinion carries weight in Asian Olympic circles. His withdrawal will make it harder for the Japanese to gather support amongst Asian International Olympic Committee delegates prior to the 2009 Copenhagen Olympic Congress where the 2016 host will be announced, which could prove damaging to the Tokyo bid.

Diplomatic tensions

Nonetheless, the Japanese have not been shy in voicing their anger at the outcome of the tournament, with even the Prime Minister Yasuo Fakuda voicing his support for a replay.

“In sports, it's important to have fair rules and judgements. If that's prevented, then Japan must insist on what it has to insist on,” Fukuda told the Japanese parliament when asked about the handball row.

“We will closely coordinate with sports organisations” to ensure Japanese handballers' chances to take part in the Beijing Olympics, he added reports Agence France Presse.

Fakuda, who is believed to have strong links with the Middle East as a result of his work within the oil industry, is also the Chief Advisor to the 2016 campaign.

Although the role is largely symbolic, the implication that Sheikh Fahad, a member of the Kuwaiti government (as the Director of the National Security Agency), can no longer support the Japanese bid as a result of loss of trust is likely to cause some diplomatic embarrassment.

However, the overall impact on bilateral relations will be “not too much especially in the longer-run given the importance of the bilateral economic relationship,” Malcolm Cook, Asia Pacific Policy Director at the Australian based Lowy Institute told Play the Game. However, “in terms of sporting diplomacy though [tensions are] likely to be longer lasting.”

Korea crucial

More important for the Japanese though is the relationship with South Korea.

In East Asia, face, which is the maintenance of a high status amongst peers and is seen as a mark of one’s personal dignity, is crucial. Avoiding loss of face governs the way in which individuals and organisations interact with one another.

“There is a strong emphasis in these cultures on presenting a harmonious ‘smooth’ image and hence anything that disrupts this smooth image of harmony, like corruption and favouritism, when brought to the surface is very embarrassing,” Cook told Play the Game.

“An individual is seen to be part of a series of larger groups with the largest being the nation and thus the Japanese handball officials once the accusations of corruption came out would have felt the pressures of all of these groups from the organising team to the handball association, to Japanese sports to Japan as a whole.”

As such, the Japanese Handball Association would have to decide where the greatest damage to relations would lie, and based upon the reputation and importance of the relationship Japan enjoys with both Kuwait and Korea, save face with the more important of the aggrieved parties.

“Certainly being criticised by a foreign government is not good and by itself would mean some loss of face,” Cook continued in reference to the comments by Sheikh Al-Fahad.

However, “I think Japanese officials would have felt that more face was lost if the original result had stood and was very widely seen as corrupt – i.e. Japan hosted a corrupt tournament and angered an important neighbour, South Korea, at the same time. South Korea is more important than Kuwait and so is the image of running proper events, especially given the 2016 bid for the Olympics and Japan’s touchy history with Korea,” says Cook.