Four Japanese basketball players have been sent home from the Asian Games after paying women for sex.
The players were on a team outing in Jakarta, wearing their team uniforms, and were solicited to go to a hotel with women, according to Japanese agency Kyodo News.
"I feel a sense of shame," said Japan chef de mission Yasuhiro Yamashita.
"We deeply apologise and intend to give the athletes thorough guidance from now on."
The alleged incident happened following victory over Qatar on Friday (NZT), Yamashita told a news conference.
He said the four players met a Japanese-speaking local, who told them about a bar where they could meet women.
They spent a couple of hours at the bar, before checking into a hotel with four women, and stayed there until Friday morning, he added.
Officials named the players as Takuya Hashimoto, Keita Imamura, Yuya Nagayoshi and Takuma Sato.
Earlier this month, the Japanese team - including three of those sent home - passed through New Zealand for two warm-up games against the NZ Select team, en route to Indonesia for the Asian Games,
The players flew back to Japan at their own expense.
Newshub.
