Photo/Illutration A signboard in Osaka asks photographers not to record a track and field competition without permission in October 2020. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Sports event organizers may be the ones crossing the line in trying to stamp out “sneak photography.”

The organizers want to prevent the competitors from becoming victims of sneak photographers who snap shots of the athletes’ underwear or private parts and spread the images on the internet.

But police involvement is difficult because of a lack of legal grounds. Public nuisance ordinances on sneak photography, for example, do not specifically cover sporting events.

And when organizers kick out suspicious photographers from the venues, the move is often based on their instincts--and they can be wrong.

In early December, a men’s wrestling competition for college students was held in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, without spectators because of the novel coronavirus.

However, a man in his 30s or so showed up to take photos. A teacher in Osaka Prefecture who was an executive member of West Japan Collegiate Wrestling League, the organizer of the tournament, stopped the photographer and called the police.

“I thought that the competition was being filmed for sexual purposes,” the executive said.

The Japan Wrestling Federation on its website reported that the man had been engaged in sneak photography.

But police did not find any sneak photos in his possession.

“I like fighting sports, and after I knew that the competition would be held, I went there” officers at the Kita-Sakai Police Station quoted him as saying.

The league executive said he has explained to camera operators that athletes have portrait right to refuse to be photographed, and he asks them about their purpose of coming to the sports venues.

He said he has also made suspicious photographers stay in waiting rooms and told them that he will report them to the police. In some cases, they said they will delete the visual images if he does not get the police involved.

“I have reported (to the police) many times in the past, but none of occasions have become a criminal case,” the executive said. “I know that those cases do not violate the ordinances. But in my opinion, if I call the police, I can stop them from taking pictures of sports competitions.”

Although some measures have been introduced to restrict recordings for swimming and track and field events, photos and videos of athletes have been posted on websites side by side with nude pictures. Such illicit recordings of athletes can cause psychological damage to the victims.

The Japanese Olympic Committee in November released a statement calling sneak photography a “despicable act.”

However, Japan Association of Athletics Federations officials said at a meeting with competition operating managers that taking photos and videos of sports events is different from sneak photography in public that violates local ordinances.

They also warned that event organizers could find themselves reported to the police or sued for compensation if they resort to verbal abuse or even violence against photographers one-sidedly accused of taking sneak photos or videos.

In some cases, photographers were arrested on suspicion of trespassing, but other times, the police did not bother going to the venue because they judged the incidents were not criminal cases.

Taisuke Matsumoto, a lawyer and associate professor at Waseda University who specializes in sports law, has offered consultations to students and sports event hosts over the issue.

He said that portrait rights are not protected by law, so it is difficult to apply that right for general athletes.

Matsumoto is concerned that acts of recording images that do not disturb public order or morals could end up being regulated, suppressing freedom of expression through such photos and videos.

He also noted that it is not easy to prevent visual footage from spreading.

Matsumoto’s advice is to take realistic measures.

“Event hosts have the freedom to decide who can get in,” he said. “If they decide on the rules of image recording in advance and make them public, they can ask violators of those rules to leave the venues without depending on the police.”

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