Interview with GSWParis Young Sports Makers – Jindo Morishita: No Tolerance to Discrimination

On February 1^st-5^th, 2021, the second edition of Global Sports Week, under the patronage of UNESCO and the high patronage of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, will come back with a brand new format that integrates digital and physical experiences.

©️Global Sports Week

As the rendez-vous of the year for the global sports industry, Global Sports Week not only provides a unique reunion opportunity for leaders from sport, business and society, but also offers a special stage for the young generation to take the torch and lead the future. During the first edition of Global Sports Week, a group of Young Sports Makers brought the voice from the next generation to the stage, contributing to one of the most shining moments of the forum. One year later, there are 34 young talents from Generation Z making up a new group of the Young Sports Makers program that will participate in the events across different hubs to challenge the speakers, learn from leaders and raise suggestions for the future.

In order to spread the voice of young elites, Yutang Sports, one of the official media partners of Global Sports Week, conducts exclusive interviews with several YSM members.

Jindo Morishita, a YSM member involved in Global Sports Week’s Tokyo hub, started his career as a professional football player in Africa, where, as a foreign player with Asian appearance, he has witnessed race discrimination happening on and off the sports field. Thus, through his participation in Global Sports Week, Jindo is looking for a viable solution to achieve race equality in the future.

Jindo Morishita

“Born in Japan, raised in the Netherlands and started playing football at the age of 5. After experiencing football in Indonesia, enrolled in the University of Tsukuba and played for the men’s football team. In 2019, signed professional contract with FC MUZA, one of the teams in the Zambian Super League and began a career as a professional footballer. Passionate about studying the field of “Sports for Development and Peace”. Coached more than 1,000 children in Africa as a licensed football coach. Run small businesses as an entrepreneur. Recipient of the 2020 University of Tsukuba Alumni Award.” -----Jindo

Global Sports Week – precious opportunities for networking globally

Yutang Sports: Through what channels did you learn about the Global Sports Week?

Jindo: First of all, I knew about the Global Sports Week from my friend who's already a Young Sports Maker. His name is Kenta Iwasawa and he was the only Japanese Young Sports Maker at Global Sports Week 2020. In Japan, I feel that there's not many young people with an international mindset who actively work in this field of sports. So he introduced me to this interesting community. I was very much interested, so that's how I got to know the forum.

Yutang Sports: From your own perspective, for what reasons that you decided to participate in the forum?

Jindo: I personally have a lot of domestic connections and networks with the Japanese professionals. But when it comes to the international level, I don't think many of the Asian people have those international networks. As a result, I thought it would be a very good opportunity for me to connect to the global sports industry and to exchange information and opinions to make a better future of sports.

Yutang Sports: From your understandings, what are the special features of GSW that attract you to join the event?

Jindo: There are so many famous people coming together at Global Sports Week not only from sports industry, but from business and other fields to “Shake, Shape and Share” the industry, with a mission to reinvent the future of sports. And that is really a valuable opportunity for everyone. I think it's a privilege for us to have access to these opportunities. So I am really looking forward to hearing ideas and discussing with the leaders attending the event.

Young Sports Makers – a tailored stage for idea exchange

Yutang Sports: How do you feel after communications with your teammates in YSM program?

Jindo: As I said before, it's very interesting and it's a very valuable experience to interact with people who have similar passion in sports and other fields of society. It's really interesting to share and communicate with them and learn more about what's happening outside of Japan. I have communicated with several people, so far, it's very interesting, very stimulating. I am very motivated to further talk to them.

Yutang Sports: What degree of self-improvement would you expect to achieve through your participation in the forum?

Jindo: It's a very interesting question. I am now a professional soccer player. After graduating from college in Japan, I was trying to pursue my football career in Africa. I mainly know the sports field from the perspective of a professional player, but in the community of the Young Sports Makers, there are lots of people whose professions are from a different perspective or a different field, even within sports. Thus, communicating with them and sharing ideas, opinions enrich my mindset and broad my horizon, which would make my viewpoint a lot higher than I used to be. So these are the things I want to expect for myself and for the community.

Future of Sports – say NO to race discrimination

Yutang Sports: You mentioned your current focus on the professional football. From your experience as an athlete, do you have any suggestions to improve the current situation in football industry?

Jindo: When it comes to professional football, I think there are various issues that need to be solved not only in Japan, but throughout the world. But the biggest issue that I want to solve at this point is, in short, any form of discrimination. Sport is about equality. Why am I stressing this issue in my speech? I have witnessed a lot of discrimination not only in Africa, but also at the time when I came back to Japan from Netherlands, where I grew up. There is still this phenomenon of discrimination and prejudice among local people in many countries across the world against people with a different skin colour. In Japan it is  even sometimes against people coming from other Asian countries. During my life in Africa I was absolutely shocked about some people using certain abusive words to symbolize white people. In fact, we are all different people, but we're all human beings and that's something that I really want to solve throughout my football career, first of all, as a professional athlete.

Sports in human civilization – bridging and amplifying

Yutang Sports: Sport is now playing a crucial role at the intersections of business and society. What do you think about the status and value of sports in human civilization?

Jindo: I am not an expert at these topic (laughing), but talking from my point of view, I was studying international development issue in sports as an academic research topic and I have been researching that field for years. The experts say that sport has two major functions. the bridging function and the amplifying function. I think, not only in business, but also in any other fields or any other individuals or organizations, sport has the power to bridge people, bridge associations, bridge fields. At the same time, sport has a function of amplifying, be it a brand or an idea. I definitely agree that sports has a crucial role at the intersection of different fields of society.

GSWParis Young Sports Makers - Jindo

Plan for the future – keep passionate and always be grateful

Yutang Sports: Do you have any specific preparations for your participation this time?

Jindo: As I said, I am a professional athlete. In terms of preparation, I need to continue what I am doing and prepare myself to become a better athlete, with high performance in Africa. And I have experienced professional sports in Africa since last year, which is a lot different from that in Asian countries, including the environment, infrastructure, and people’s thinking patterns. They're all different. As a result, I need to prepare well, be flexible, so that I could adapt to a different environment again when I go back. So those are my preparations for now. But at the same time, I am also a small business entrepreneur. I set up my own online inspection service, which means that I could not only rely on the my salary as a football player, but I can earn extra money as a business person, so that I could do some bigger project with local people in Africa or in Japan when I would like to. I also have my YouTube channel, which is in Japanese though. I am doing these things at the same time.

Yutang Sports: Eyes on the future, do you have any expectations towards your own positioning and self-value in sports industry?

Jindo: Yes, first of all, as a professional football player, my goal is to be the most famous Asian soccer player in Africa. The reason why I am saying this is that there's not many Asian players in Africa. When I was in Zambia, there's only two Asian players in the league. That made me very exposed to a new environment that I had never experienced before. That was something very interesting. First of all, I need to sign a professional contract with one of the teams there. Then I need to start scoring goals as a striker and win the championship games within the local league. Furthermore, I would like to go to the African continental leagues and win them. After building a position in the African professional football field, I would like to extend my business in sports field or maybe outside of sports business.

Yutang Sports: As a great representative of Gen Z in sports industry, would you like to give your own advice to those who desire to make a difference in sports in the future?

Jindo: Yes, thank you. I'm not SOMEBODY yet, but I'm trying to be that person who is same as the other people from the Gen-Z groups. But what I want to share, based on my experience, and something I will try not to forget as a model for myself is that never forget to respect, and also follow your passion in something. I think that is a message from me.

After a first glance at the YSM squad, we are thrilled that the new blood of sport industry have acquired the global mindset with ambitious expectations towards the future, while it is Global Sports Week that provides a tailored stage, where the young crews, with diverse cultural backgrounds and professions, are able to bring distinctive viewpoints from their unique angles to the table. After precipitation and fermentation, the innovative inspirations will further illuminate the road of industry reinvention. While, during the process, listening to established voices from the industry becomes a required course for the young sports makers.

About Global Sports Week

Global Sports Week is an annual international forum held under the high patronage of M. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, that brings together leaders and disruptors from sport, business, culture, media, government and society. Its agenda is focused on the future of sport at the intersection of business and society.

GSWParis offers innovative formats and directly connects global leaders of sport with athletes, grassroots actors, fans and emerging talents.

In 2021, GSWParis will return from February 1st - 5th 2021. It will boast a new, multi-country format, mixing physical and digital experiences, with events in six cities worldwide.

About Yutang Sports

Yutang Sports is a Chinese leading sports marketing and media platform, with an ultimate mission to connect China and world through sports. After years of growing, Yutang Sports, with a comprehensive media and marketing promotion system, is now dedicating to reporting sports business and marketing trends, providing sports business news, analysis and exclusive data reports in both Chinese and English. Having been cooperated with top-level domestic and international sports summits, Yutang Sports is opening a window for Chinese sports industry to embrace the world.