The 24-year-old, who won silver in the men's 200m butterfly at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, caused a crash that injured another person while driving his own car, Japan Aquatics said in a statement released on Aug. 7.
The crash happened on Nov. 21 last year while Honda was driving privately, and prosecutors indicted him in May, Daily Sports reported. He did not inform the federation until July 31.
Honda had treated the matter as something to be settled between the parties and had not recognized it as requiring disclosure, Sports Hochi reported, and the federation called that a lapse in his own judgment while acknowledging its own failure of oversight.
Dangerous driving causing injury is a criminal offense under Japan's Act on Punishment of Acts Inflicting Death or Injury on Others by Driving a Motor Vehicle, carrying up to 15 years in prison. Neither alcohol nor drugs were involved in any way, the federation said, according to Sports Hochi.
Kaneko Hidesumi, the federation's senior managing director, told Daily Sports the disclosure had come as a complete shock and that his immediate concern was the victim's full recovery. The federation said the case was the first involving criminal proceedings against an athlete during a national team period in its history.
