Nikkan Sports reports (Japanese) that Siegfried Aikman, the former coach of Japan's national hockey team, is suing for wrongful dismissal. The Dutchman was appointed in 2009, with a contract until the London Olympics in 2012, but was removed last February after a poor showing at the Asian championships. Aikman maintains that he was told this result would not affect his employment and the article points out his sudden dismissal appears to have been decided upon without any consultation with the sport's board of directors.
Meanwhile, in other news, Mark Mahon, has confirmed that the country's ice hockey team will not participate in the World Championship qualifiers later this month. ""It's a very sensitive situation," the Canadian-born coach told Reuters. "On the one side the players were motivated to play for their country. It would be nice if the sport could have stepped up and shown some leadership. But there are no words to describe the pain the country feels from this tragedy and the loss of life."
[EDIT: As comments below show, Aikman was the field hockey coach, not ice hockey, so the headline and text have been corrected accordingly.]