Players Association Statement Calls for Respect for Baseball Players’ Privacy

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:07 JST, March 6, 2024

The Japan Professional Baseball Players Association (JPBPA) issued a statement Tuesday asking the public to respect the privacy of baseball players.

The statement released on the association’s website et al pointed out that media frenzy and social media posts by fans over the private lives of famous people, including athletes, are getting out of hand. To protect the peace of players and their families, the association called out to fans and the media in the statement to consider once again that players, too, have lives that deserve respect of privacy. The association added that the whole sports community will also make an effort to help build a new society where privacy is respected and everyone can live with a peace of mind.

On Feb. 12, The Yomiuri Shimbun and major infotech firm LY Corp. held an online talk to explain to the association about efforts by both companies to respect people’s privacy in online news articles and other media.