Editorial

14:00 JST, July 7, 2025

Harassment directed at athletes who are fighting with all their might to achieve victory for the team or to set records is becoming a serious problem. Heartless words are being posted on social media. The government and sports organizations must strengthen measures to protect athletes.

Professional baseball, soccer, basketball and other players are constantly being subjected to defamation and other harassment with such posts as “Kill yourself” and “Get out of Japan” on social media. Attacks on families and racially discriminatory posts are also prevalent.

Even though sports tend to spark intense support because they produce clear winners and losers, ridiculing an athlete’s character, appearance or nationality is nothing short of a desecration of sports and........

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