The seventeenth season of the J. League kicks off at the National Stadium in Tokyo tomorrow when reigning champions Kashima Antlers take on Emperor’s Cup holders Gamba Osaka in the season-opening Super Cup.
The clash between Japan’s league champions and the winners of the nation’s premier cup competition is an annual affair, but lately it’s been looking as stale as the All-Star clash that was given a radical overhaul last year.
Kashima Antlers conquered all before them the season before last, winning not only the J. League, but also beating relegated Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the Emperor’s Cup final as well.
That meant that the same two teams came back to the National Stadium for the Super Cup clash just two months later, and no one can say that it wasn’t an eventful encounter.
That’s because referee Masaaki Iemoto took centre stage with a performance that stretched the bounds of credibility.
Iemoto sent off Kashima’s central defender Daiki Iwamasa for a second bookable offence just twelve minutes in, before Iemoto evened things up by sending Hiroshima midfielder Ri Han-Jae for an early bath before the first half had even ended.
By the time Hiroshima were awarded a dubious penalty ten minutes from time, the refereeing performance was looking decidedly fishy.
Tatsuhiko Kubo stepped up to convert the penalty – but only after referee Iemoto had ordered the spot-kick retaken due to encroachment.
Not surprisingly Hiroshima levelled the scores at 2-2 just five minutes later, and eventully the match went to penalties.
It was here that Iemoto’s performance deserves particular scrutiny.
Twice Kashima goalkeeper Hitoshi Sogahata saved spot-kicks, only for Iemoto to order them retaken.
Hiroshima converted both at the second attempt as they went on to win the match on penalties, prompting a pitch invasion from furious Kashima fans.
Antlers stalwart Go Oiwa was brandished a red card in the mayhem that followed, so he missed the start of the league campaign through suspension.
Not one of Iemoto’s controversial rulings appeared to be the correct decision.
In a region in which Asian betting syndicates often plunge huge wagers on the outcome of relatively meaningless fixtures, it was difficult to keep the terms “match fixing” and “J. League” from simultaneously crossing people’s lips.
Poor refereeing has long been a blight on the J. League.
But so controversial was Iemoto’s Super Cup performance that he was promptly slapped with a “cooling off period” by the Japan Football Association – whatever that means.
Part of the problem stems from a Japanese fondness for authority.
Questioning authority in Japan is a heinous social faux pas, but that’s not a particularly helpful attitude within the passionate confines of a football game.
That’s something that Japanese referees are yet to comprehend, and their reaction to players questioning them is often bizarre.
In an infamous case last season, referee Yuichi Nishimura told respected Oita Trinita defender Taikai Uemoto to “die,” because Uemoto had questioned why a decision went against him.
That outburst made headlines around the globe and deeply embarrassed the J. League, although they predictably responded by denying that it ever took place.
The culture of censorship is one of the most wearisome aspects of the Japanese game.
So too is the Super Cup – now looking more pointless than ever given that Gamba Osaka’s star signings Cho Jae-Jin and Leandro both look set to miss the match through injury.
With rain forecast in the capital, not too many Gamba Osaka fans are likely to make the cross-country slog to the open-air National Stadium to watch a depleted side do battle against the best team in the land.
Kashima’s home opener with Urawa Reds is already sold out, but I can’t see more than 25,000 fans turning out in the capital for the Super Cup.
It begs the question of why the Asian Football Confederation considers it such a marvellous idea to host a one-off Champions League final at Tokyo’s crumbling National Stadium.
But that’s a tale for another day.
For now, the only reason to take an interest in the Japanese Super Cup is to determine just how bad this season’s refereeing will be.
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