Much of the media attention on the recent Asian Games in Jakarta focused on four Japanese athletes being sent home for using the services of prostitutes. As conservatism becomes increasingly politically fashionable in Indonesia, it was inevitable there would be a backlash over the fact that some Japanese basketballers had visited a red-light area.
Major sporting events, such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, are often reported to cause to a rise in prostitution because of the influx of journalists, spectators, officials and athletes. In Jakarta and Palembang co-host of the Asian Games , visiting athletes were encouraged to enjoy the local culture, but that did not extend to sampling the seedy nightlife.
The Asian Games officially opened on August 18, but the basketball competition started on August 14, as there were dozens of games to get through before the finals on September 1. Qatar, like other oil-rich Middle Eastern nations, has been accused of recruiting athletes from poor African countries to boost its international sporting prowess.
For example, at the Rio Olympics, Qatar fielded a record-high team of 39 athletes, at least 23 of them born outside the country. Tanguy has played in Qatar since In , he was drafted by the US National Basketball Association, only to be dropped after reports he had lied about his age, making him ineligible for the draft. In the game against Japan, he scored an impressive 36 points, the most of any player that night.
Qatar was even leading at the end of the first quarter, before Japan bounced back. After their victory, the Japanese team returned to the Athletes Village in Kemayoran district.
