Despite all the fuss over this country's governing body in the past year and a half, the Japan Basketball League believes it sees a bright future entering the 2008-09 season, which tips off next Friday.
"We feel so sorry for what has happened," Japan Basketball Association vice-chairman Yasuhiko Fukatsu said at a Tokyo news conference on Friday afternoon, referring to the organization's persistent personnel issues over debts (¥1.3 billion) incurred from the 2006 FIBA World Basketball Championship.
This caused the Japan Olympic Committee to take sweeping action last year, suspending the JBA. The ban was lifted on Sept. 13 after the JBA appointed a new board of directors, including the new chairman Taro Aso, the Liberal Democratic Party's secretary general, last month.