Statement from the J.League on the Japanese Only banner at Urawa Reds stadium ... I started to correct the English, but no time right now - shipping magazines... (Please try not to comment on the English - I will be working to put that right with J.League for the future, but the intent, the swift action, is to be applauded) From: j-league.or.jp/eng/news/0313-01.html First of all, as a Chairman of J.LEAGUE, I deeply regret the incident which might be accepted as racism, occurred on 8th March at Saitama Stadium 2002. I would like to express my deepest apology to all people who felt uncomfortable, as well as all stakeholders and people who are always supporting us. I took this incident as a serious matter ever, and proposed to and consulted with the Consultative Committee that severe sanctions be imposed on the home club, Urawa Reds. The Consultative Committee replied that the proposed sanctions were fairly appropriate and we thus finalized our decision as released today. Since I took the position of Chairman in this January, I have taken a fairplay on and off the pitch as a basic principle, and conveyed my thoughts to everybody repeatedly. In addition, I have reconfirmed an importance of attracting and welcoming new customers to stadiums to watch our games. My thoughts, as a matter of course, are based on the premise that we should welcome such new customers regardless of its age, gender and/or nationality. I recognize and understand that there are various opinions with regard to what actions should be considered as racism. However, I believe what is important here is to focus on how a recipient feels about this kind of action, rather than to look into an intention of a person who made such actions. In that sense, we have to deem the action in question as discriminatory behavior. Given a lot of media exposure including the Internet in the last couple of days and global repercussion of this incident, the social impact of this incident is more than imagined and it is obvious that the brand images of J.LEAGUE and the Japanese football industry are materially deteriorated. This incident is definitely against my basic principle, fairplay, which I have repeatedly mentioned since my appointment. Because J.LEAGUE should inspire kids to dream, and be a model of a fair sportsmanship, I cannot ignore this incident. We must protect our stadiums from having bad images such as danger and fear. Regarding Urawa Reds, there were several troubles caused by a part of its supporters, which include actions deemed as racism. In that case, the sanction was imposed on the club. I guess that most of Urawa Reds supporters have also been hurt by the conduct which is taken by just a handful of supporters this time. Considering that Urawa Reds is a club who joined J.LEAGUE from the first year and should have acted as one of the leaders of the J.LEAGUE clubs in Japan, I am feeling a deeply ashamed of myself that such club could not control the situation. I have strongly requested that Urawa Reds accept these sanctions as serious as ever, and take all necessary actions to avoid any recurrence. I would like to take this opportunity to review the ideal role of J.LEAGUE once again, with all stakeholders, fans and supporters related to J.LEAGUE and J.LEAGUE clubs. J.LEAGUE which is fair and we can take pride in to the world. This must be built with everybody who loves J.LEAGUE. We will do everything we can to recover the images of J.LEAGUE from today. Thank you for your kind attention and continuous support.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 10:34:37 +0000