‘Japanese Only’ banner scandal hits J-League

Tokyo: Japan’s professional football league said Monday it was investigating after an apparently racist banner reading “Japanese only” appeared 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 Korea-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 said Sunday it was questioning an unspecified number of people who had displayed the banner, which also featured a Japanese flag, saying 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 has Brazilian Marcio Richardes as one of their midfielders. Sagan’s manager and coach are both South Korean, as are several players.

Urawa defender Tomoaki Makino tweeted after his team’s 1-0 loss on Saturday 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.