Japan’s professional soccer league on Monday said it was investigating after a banner reading: “Japanese only” was displayed at a weekend match.
The large banner, written in English, was hoisted near a gate to the stands of a stadium in the city of Saitama near Tokyo, where home club Urawa Red Diamonds were taking on rivals Sagan Tosu.
Social media was abuzz with speculation that the sign could have been targeting South Korean-born striker Tadanari Lee, who was released by English club Southampton for a transfer to Urawa before the J-League season kicked off this month. Lee also holds Japanese citizenship.
Urawa on Sunday said they were questioning an unspecified number of people who had displayed the banner, which also featured a Japanese flag, saying that their “words and deeds evoked discrimination.”
“Staff from a security guard company in the stands has reported that discriminatory remarks were heard during the match,” the statement said, without elaborating.
Urawa are managed by Austrian Mihailo Petrovic and have Brazilian Marcio Richardes as a midfielder, while Sagan’s manager and coach are both South Korean, as are several of the side’s players.
After his team’s 1-0 loss on Saturday, Urawa defender Tomoaki Makino tweeted that “this is not the way to treat players who fight for this team with pride.”
“Players and supporters cannot unite as one and produce results this way,” he wrote.
Urawa, the 2007 Asian champions who enjoy passionate backing from their large fan base, said the results of the probe would be released to the public.
“Discriminatory remarks and actions cannot be condoned,” they said.
J-League chairman Mitsuru Murai told Japanese media on Sunday that “we will deal with it in a stern manner” if the message was proven to be “discriminatory.”
The Japan Football Association had no immediate comment.
The incident comes as regional concern grows over an apparent right-ward shift in Japanese politics since hawkish Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe swept to power in late 2012.
Tokyo is embroiled in diplomatic disputes with China and South Korea, with some of the animosity driven by Japan’s imperial aggression in the early 20th century.
The country’s often rocky relationship with Seoul was on display at the 2012 London Olympics when South Korea’s soccer team beat Japan in the bronze-medal match.
During the game, South Korean player Park Jong-woo waved a sign claiming that islands at the center of territorial dispute with Tokyo belonged to Seoul, earning him a two-match suspension.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS