By Andrew Warshaw
March 28 – Japanese football chiefs have lodged a formal complaint with FIFA over alleged dirty tricks during their shock World Cup qualifying loss to Jordan earlier this week.
Officials claim lasers were deliberately shone into the faces of goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima and midfielder Yasuhito Endo during the 2-1 defeat in Amman that prevented the runaway group leaders becoming the first nation to reach next year’s finals in Brazil.
“We filed a complaint with both FIFA and Asian Football Confederation about it. We are not sure if we will receive any answer from them,” a Japan Football Association (JFA) official said.
Endo missed a penalty that would have secured an early qualification-clinching draw and although he stated that it had not bothered him at the time, he admitted he had lasers shone in his face during the match, including the moment prior to taking his spotkick. “We had the laser beams from the first half, but I didn’t care. I knew I had the beam when I tried to hit a penalty shot. It didn’t affect my play.”
Kawashima said he had been targeted when trying to take a corner kick. “I tried not to be distracted, but the lights were shone even when we didn’t have the ball.”
Jordan denied claims of dirty tricks accusing their opponents of sour grapes. “Personally, I am surprised at these accusations. We did not hear or notice anything about laser,” said Salah Sabra, vice president of the Jordan Football Association. “The Japanese players themselves did not complain during or after the match yesterday. Security measures were tough before and during the match. The police thoroughly frisked everyone. We highly respect our Japanese friends but, personally, I think it is a weak attempt to cover up their loss.”
Yet JFA president Kuniya Daini countered that the laser beams definitely happened. “During the break at half time an announcement was made on the stadium speaker system warning fans not to use laser pointers. I hope such a thing will never happen again.”
