Tokyo Verdy Football Director Submits Inquiry Letter Regarding Wet Towels Incident by Hiroshima; Expresses Surprise

According to Yahoo Sports, Tokyo Verdy’s 56-year-old football director, Hara Yasuharu, recently stated that the club has submitted a written inquiry letter to the J League regarding the incident during last weekend’s league match where Hiroshima players took and wetted the ball-drying towels. Notably, Tokyo Verdy’s head coach Kuroda Gou is also a member of this executive committee.

Hara Yasuharu said: “On Monday, we submitted a written request and investigation letter to the J League. We requested (or warned) all clubs to pay attention to this issue and limit the behavior of moving the opponent’s set match equipment. We asked the J League to confirm with Hiroshima their opinion on the players’ behavior at the time. There were many pictures and videos taken during the incident, so we attached them as evidence in our letter. I was really surprised that even Hiroshima would do something like this. If the towels or other items were obstructing, they could have asked the management to move them, but they were not placed anywhere that would interfere with the game.”

During the match between Hiroshima Sanfrecce and Tokyo Verdy on September 28th at 18:00, which ended with a 2-0 victory for Hiroshima Sanfrecce, the Hiroshima players, wary of Tokyo Verdy’s powerful throw-ins, soaked all the ball-drying towels, causing strong dissatisfaction from the Tokyo Verdy coaching staff and players. However, in previous matches, Tokyo Verdy’s main striker Fujio Shota had also caused significant controversy by watering the ball before taking a penalty kick. Whether it is permissible to gain an advantage in the game through watering has undoubtedly become a hot topic in Japanese football circles recently.