Japanese World Champion Daiya Seto has been suspended by the Japan Swimming Federation from any official Japanese national team activities as punishment for his extramarital affair that came recently to light, Kyodo News reports.
According to the report, the Japanese Swimming Federation ruled that Seto had failed to live up to the federation’s standards for sportsmalike conduct.
But Seto was only suspended through the end of the year. He is still eligible for the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
He resigned as captain of Japan’s Olympic swim team last month after admitting to the affair.
“I’m very sorry,” Seto said, according to a federation executive that spoke with the Japan Times. “I want to do my best to restore peoples’ trust, so I ask for your continuing support in this effort.”
According to the report, Seto’s agent issued an apology last Thursday, a day after a magazine published a story about him being at a “love hotel” with someone other than his wife.
Daiya Seto’s sponsors have also weighed in on the situation. According to the report, he will forgo his image-rights agreement with the Japanese Olympic Committee. All Nippon Airways Co. has also severed ties with Seto.
“We have been supporting Seto, but this problem does not fit with the image our company hopes to project,” the company told the Times.
Daiya Seto is the reigning world champion in the 200-meter individual medley and 400-meter individual medley and has been one of the world’s elite for several years. He has turned in some of his best performances in the past two years, including worlds and the Kitajima Cup to open 2020. He earned the bronze medal in the 400 IM at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
This is his private Life, and a Fédération dies not have thé right to rule about this!