Barry writes:Released by Jubilo on Friday, the verdict after the Ghotbi nuclear banner. In summary:
1) The two who hung the banner are indefinitely banned from all J.League matches, this may be lifted in the future.
2) The president and vice president of the main jubilo supporter group Progresso, are banned from J.League matches until the end of this season.
3) Beginning in July all banners and flags at Jubilo home games must be approved ahead of time by the club and are limited to player names and 'content supporting the players'. No anti S-Pulse flags for the derby as per in the past, then. They won't screen stuff in June but security will ask anyone with non-compliant flags to either put it away or leave the stadium.
With thanks to Dokool of Aishiteru Tokyo for translations help.
Note that this is not the J. League's verdict, which will follow at a later date.
4 comments:
Hi Barry
Obviously Jubilo aren't your club, quite the opposite in fact, but did the Progresso people know about the banner beforehand? I don't get why they got banned. Non-compliant flags? What about non-compliant songs? Most away fans visiting my team in England, Spurs (Yid Army),imitate gassing sounds (Holocaust reference). As you mentioned in another post fans in the J-League are incredibly respectful compared with leagues in other countries but what if (clearly the Ghotbi banner didn't fit into this category) an opposition player/manager did something to deserve some derogotory banner even that can't be displayed? Do you agree with the punishment? What if the Jubilo security are hardcore and just approve all banners anyway? I am a little confused!
@Cerezo Fan - I know you directed your question to Barry but since I've been reading all the source material for translations I figured I'd step in >_>
As stated in their blog, the Progresso people (or at least the top members) didn't know about the banner beforehand, and the P and VP accepting half-year bans for this is a traditional Japanese form of apology. They're basically saying "We failed to police our own, we take responsibility for what occurred as a result of that" (including the brawl w/ Shimizu supporters).
I've rarely seen derogatory banners aimed at opposing players/managers at J.League - it almost never happens (with rare exceptions such as this case) but yes, Jubilo is banning its supporters from making them.
As for the last thing, this incident made Jubilo and J.League look pretty bad and so it's very unlikely that security will gloss over the approvals.
Also a note to Barry - while this is the punishment from the club, it *might* include the J.League's punishment too, since it mentions that it was determined by using the league's standard criterion (and also I don't think a club can unilaterally ban a supporter from *all* league matches without J.League approval, so someone in the league office had to rubber-stamp it).
Cerezo Fan,
Even though it's Jubilo it does sound like a bit of a fascist ruling, but then given the situation there's nothing else they can do really. I think Jubilo are most concerned about being seen to be taking action. The worst thing they could do is come out with a ruling that leaves them open to criticism that they're not dealing with the situation satisfactorily enough.
As for non-compliant songs, in half a decade watching J. League I've not once heard a song aimed at specifically abusing another team / player. Beyond booing or a bit of shouting (or racist abuse if you're a Kashiwa Reysol fan), they just don't do it.
All songs are led by a call leader so even if something got going individually, the call leader and those around him would start up something else. It might sound weird (to be honest, to a western football supporter, it is a bit) but that's just the way they do it.
Dokool, I'd be surprised if the J. League don't have something to say about this still. Playing the next five years behind closed doors should be sufficient tin this case I think. ;) Either that or a fine of some sort. I think this is a pre-emptive move by Jubilo to lessen whatever the J. League might throw at them and to show they're willing to deal with it themselves, but I'm sure the J. League will still have something to say.
Good to see Jubilo taking action- but then, they had to. And compared to western footie it wasn't much really, but this isnt the west - by J-standards shocking behaviour.
Would be surprised if the J-league doesn't do something; as the husband commented, if a club elsewhere treated a japanese player / manager like this Japan would be outraged (like the monkey incident with Celtic's Korean player).
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