Students at Aomori School Soccer Club Drank Alcohol, Smoked

Aomori, July 21 (Jiji Press)–Aomori Yamada High School said Tuesday that more than 10 students belonging to its soccer club drank alcohol and smoked. The private school in the northeastern Japan city of Aomori has already taken necessary actions against all of the students under its regulations. The drinking and smoking took place mainly at a dormitory in the capital of Aomori Prefecture, the school said. The Aomori Yamada soccer club has won Japan’s national high school soccer championship four times. The club is slated to take part in a soccer tournament to be held in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, from Saturday as part of this year’s national high school athletic meet, which will take place mainly in western Japan prefectures. Aomori Yamada will dispatch the soccer club to the tournament as scheduled because most of students in the club were not involved in the delinquency, a public relations official said while noting that this is “a difficult decision.” “We take (the misconduct) seriously,” the school’s principal, Atsushi Hanada, said. “We deeply apologize for causing concern and trouble to many people,” Hanada said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]