Racism Forces Soccer Team To Play in an Empty Stadium
By Alex Chen | January 01, 0001
Earlier this month, a banner reading “Japanese Only” hung inside Saitama Stadium 2002. The incident led to the Urawa Red Diamonds soccer team being punished: This weekend, the team was forced to play in an empty stadium. And yes, the team is being punished for the actions of insensitive fans.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); AFP reports that the Urawa president Keizo Fuchita said fans hung the banner so foreigners would not sit in the section behind the goal—which is considered “sacred ground” by diehard fans. Here is the banner that sparked all of this (courtesy of Reddit): “I don’t think the fans who put that banner out realised how seriously it would be taken,” an Urawa fan told AFP. “If that happened in Europe, with a racist banner, it’d be normal for you to be punished.” On 2ch, Japan’s largest online forum, photos of this weekend’s match between Urawa and Shimizu S-Pulse showed a stadium devoid of y1 games fans. It’s quite a different sight from the team’s typical matches, which draw big crowds. Many 2ch commenters noted how odd the images of two professional J-League teams playing in an empty stadium looked. “Seems lonely…” wrote one 2ch commenter. “I can’t even fathom the players’ mental state,” wrote