Jubilo Iwata Supporters in Terrorist Slur Towards Afshin Ghotbi

Barry writes:

You know one of the many things I like about the J. League? The ability to have a good, healthy rivalry between teams without the off field problems or political tensions of certain showdowns around the world.

Well, take a bow Jubilo Iwata supporters. Some of your ranks succeeded in dragging this year's Shizuoka Derby into the gutter with a truly foul display of racist stereotyping.

"Ghotbi, stop making nuclear weapons!"

Afshin Ghotbi was born in Iran and moved to America as a child. Not that any of this should have anything to do with anything, of course. To most people in Nihondaira today it didn't. But a small group of Iwata supports clearly though it such an issue to spend the time effort and money to make the above banner.

Think for a moment how this looks to the world. A man of Iranian heritage comes to Japan to work, and within months is labelled on national TV as a terrorist. Nobody thinks for a minute that those Jubilo fans actually believe that, but to be making such displays of race discrimination so freely and without any shame is simply abhorrent.

The banner sparked a near riot as large numbers of the S-Pulse supports were so incensed as to run the entire length of the stadium to confront and demand the flag. To my mind they were 100% justified in their actions and deserve applause for not letting this pass without words.

The banner incited violent confrontations

The livid home fans didn't leave the away end for half an hour. I hear the Iwata supporters responsible were apprehended. They deserve to be banned from J. League stadiums for life for bringing shame to one of the oldest derby fixtures in the J. League, and inciting angry brawls that endangered women and children in the crowd. Punches were thrown, flags torn down and a whole lot of pushing and shoving. It may not sound much, but this is virtually unheard of in Japan, and just the type of thing that can turn hundreds of people off the game.

Incensed S-Pulse fans refused to leave the away end

Above and beyond this, what of Afshin Ghotbi himself? He comes to Japan to manage S-Pulse and gets vile racist abuse. Poor fella. What a welcome to the country. The message to the world today, for it is all over Twitter, is "Japan racially stereotypes with no shame." The J. League needs to come down on those responsible like a ton of bricks to show that this won't be tolerated.

One S-Pulse fan who joined the angry mob told me "It can't be allowed. It had to be challenged." One Jubilo supporter told me "It's fucking stupid." Yep, it is. It's foul and left a bad taste in the mouth. It's time for the J. League to act, and act swiftly.

Ghotbi - I'm so very, very sorry you had to see that. Please don't take these wannabe hooligans' words to heart. Most people in Japan are decent folk who won't let this type of thing go unchallenged. You saw how our fans defended your honour - and that is the majority of this country.

Sunday May 29th Update:

Those responsible have been identified on YouTube.

Jubilo have issued a full unreserved apology to Afshin Ghotbi, S-Pulse supporters, everyone at the game, and everyone who loves the game of football.

Two males in their teens were detained after the game and interviewed by the police and match commissioner. The J. League are waiting on the official report.

S-Pulse new boy and former Jubilo striker Takahara was reported as expressing his disappointment with Iwata's fans.

Videos

The moment the flag was unveiled.



The shit immediately hitting the fan.







Oh, yeah - the game ended 0-0.

S-Pa v Jubilo - Derby Day 2 of 4 Preview

Well, here we go again! With the recent 1-1 draw still fresh in everyone's memories, this coming Sunday we get to do it all again as two teams once again battle it out for the crown of Kings of Shizuoka: Shimizu S-Pulse versus Jubilo Iwata. This time the backstory happens to be the 4th game of the Nabisco Cup group stage. The Nabisco is the J. League's own league cup, and traditionally attracts crowds well below those of the league, but with everything to play for, one of our biggest ever league cup gates will cram into Nihondaira for Jubilo's second visit of the season. For whatever reason, it's yet another Sunday 1pm kick off. I may even start a petition about these for next season - noone should be forced to rise before 10am of a Sunday, even for the footer.

Jubilo won't be relishing their chances given they've only managed one win from the last ten derby day meetings, but S-Pa are without both Ichikawa and Teru through injury, both of which will hit the team hard (not to mention Okazaki, Honda and Aoyama who are all away on international duty). That said, Ichikawa didn't feature in two of our previous cup games, but Teru's presence will be sorely missed. Will this give like-for-like player Marcos Paulo his first opportunity to shine in the first team? So far only making the reserves, and with rumours flying around of discontent behind the scenes, who knows if we'll ever see the ex-Brazilian international grace Nihondaira?

Either way, we're going to miss Teru's influence. He'll be back in two weeks, but Ichikawa won't be seeing action for six - the mid-season Olympic break could not have been better timed! It will also give Kenta some much needed time to assess our horrific start to the season. OK, it's not been all that bad when looked at objectively, and we're only five points off 4th place (Reysol who we took apart with clinical efficiency earlier in the month, are sitting in 4th, which speaks volumes about the randomness of this season), but defeats like those at Albirex and Verdy are simply not acceptable for either the club or it's fans. If we'll be seeing some transfer action over the summer, or if wonderboy Genki Omae will be making his J. League debut any time soon remains to be seen...

So, anyway, yeah, back to the point - the League Cup. Here's how things currently stand:


Clearly in the driving seat, and with the 5-0 spanking of Verdy giving us a huge goal difference advantage, a win could put us through and Jubilo out. Three points on Sunday plus Verdy beating Tokyo, and we'd be in round two barring a goal difference disaster in the final two games. But lets not get ahead of ourselves - we're only half way through the group stage and this season has been nothing if not erratic! With a refreshingly big league cup crowd in attendance, it would be rude not to win our sixth derby from ten and leave Jubilo with just a relegation battle to worry about. My prediction? Not nearly as bullish as last time, but a decent enough 2-0 win for the mighty Oranges - just wait and see. :)

A six foot pole (top left) hurled into the Gamba supporters

In other news: The J. League rules out any punishment for either Gamba or Urawa beyond financial. Good move - way to bottle it. When the next incident happens - and it will, there's a history of intermittent crowd violence in the J. League going back years - can we expect the same worthless punishments from those at the top? Gamba have banned the Black and Blue Squad supporters group, apparently those at the centre of any hooliganism, but Urawa are not able to return the gesture. The reds who destroyed the fence and attempted to attack the visitors were in the more moderate area of Saitama Stadium, and not part of any organised fan group. It can only make you wonder what the nutters down the home end would have done if a water balloon (a water balloon - quick, call the paramedics!!!) had hit a child near them.

In other news: Manchester United beat Chelsea in the Champions League Final.

It's a sorry state of affairs when the biggest club competition in the world can effectively be decided by one man slipping over. I'll never understand the fascination governing bodies have with penalty shoot outs. What's wrong with at least having one replay before resorting to the coin toss solution? Think of all the money to be made in having a SECOND final! PK shoot outs, especially those in finals, just serve to chip away at the credibility of a competition and its subsequent winners. Still, maybe I just don't like pens because England always lose at them...

In yet other news: The domain www.shimizuspulse.com was sitting sadly vacant, and so has since been snapped up by a certain fan blog. For copyright reasons I guess we should state that the website is named after Shimizu's Pulse (my friend Mr. Shimizu who has a very interesting pulse) and not after a certain J. League team who wear bright orange. :) The URL should be active in a day or two, and will point here.

Roll on Sunday. :)

Urawa Reds v Gamba Osaka: Hooliganism alive and kicking in the J. League

Urawa fans tear down the barrier and storm over to Gamba

So fair enough, a mob of Kashiwa Reysol hoolies attacking S-Pulse fans is never going to be headline news. Some Japanese would be hard pushed to even point out Kashiwa on a map, let alone care about any goings on there. Even for those who witness it, (the local police, for one) such incidents are quickly filed under the ignore-it-and-pretend-it-never-happened category. So when ugly scenes broke out at the home of Asian Champion's League winners and self-styled flagship side of Japan, Urawa Reds, there's clearly no avoiding the fact that hooliganism is a problem in the J. League. Well, so you might think. Since Saturday, the JFA denial machine has been working overtime to sweep another instance of supporter violence neatly under the carpet.


Fans clash after Gamba's 3-2 defeat of Urawa

The two old enemies Gamba Osaka and Urawa Red Diamonds met at the Saitama Stadium in what was always going to be a highly charged affair. To spice proceedings up further, Gamba's second goal of three came directly off the back of a refereeing cock up which saw a clear Reds throw awarded the wrong way. A quick throw in and pass later, and it was in the back of the net. Reds fans and players went ballistic as you might well expect. Fast forward to the end: Gamba complete the away victory 3-2 and understandably revel in winning away in front of a 57000 crowd. While they celebrate, Urawa players storm over and start mixing it up, which all soon spills over into the terraces. It was perpetual shit-stirrer Tulio who, after helping to start the melee in the first place, was later the one whining the loudest about a lack of fair play and respect - oh, the irony!

The official line states that Gamba fans began by throwing empty plastic bottles into the neighbouring Reds supporters. Apparently the crushing weight of a water balloon (a water balloon!!) injured a young fan so badly that Reds supporters felt justified in tearing down the dividing barrier in an effort to reach the Osaka area. As parts of the demolished plastic wall and more bottles rained down on the Gamba fans, they too rushed the barrier. When thousands of home fans blockaded the away stand exit and started tearing down and destroying Gamba flags, it took several hours before the visitors could be evacuated past the baying mob to safety. A statement from Gamba this morning apologised for their fans' provocative behaviour, and a lengthy release from Urawa said much the same. There has so far been no word from the JFA or J. League regarding punishments for either team. Will they have the balls to hit Urawa or Gamba with anything other than a nominal fine?

Whoever started it and why, and whoever retaliated and why is all academic. The fact is hooliganism in alive and well in the J. League. This isn't news for many of us, but for some this is yet another incident which needs to be talked away and quickly forgotten. It wasn't even mentioned on the national news on Monday morning, and will likely not be heard of again in the mainstream media. I very much doubt either team will be disciplined in any meaningful way, as that then admits the problem exists - something noone seems willing to do. And yet there it is, on the biggest stage of the national league: barriers being smashed up, fans charging each other and missiles raining down.

I'm often reminded in Japan of England's hooligan problem. Yes, it still sometimes happens in the UK, but I honestly can't remember the last time I saw anything like that inside an English ground. There was no real fighting, but the JFA needs to start dishing our substantial punishments now before things escalate. How many Reds hoolies are now going to be buying tickets for the return fixture in November? On the video below one supporter is seen having fallen a pretty hefty drop into the dry moat. He got away with just a broken ankle, so I guess we'll have to wait until fans start getting more seriously hurt until people start waking up and taking action. JFA - prove me wrong.

Kashiwa's only victory yesterday

Hey, you won!

Hooliganism in the J. League? You've got to hand it to Kashiwa Reysol fans; attacking en masse a lone S-Pulse scarfer, beating him to the ground and knocking seven shades of shit out of him - they give the word scum new meaning. Makes you wonder why they stop at scarfers? There are plenty of kids who go to games - and girls too! Even easier targets than a 22 year old bloke on his way back to the station. Nobody's naive enough to think hooliganism doesn't exist. Even in Japan it's part of the game to small degree - but Jesus, Kashiwa - wait till you play Antlers or Urawa, start attacking their most vulnerable fans and see how far you get. Got a funny feeling that's not something I'll ever be reading about... It would also have been nice if the local police hadn't been as use as a chocolate teapot. Shame on you Kashiwa "police" - you proved yourself to be worthless.