Belgian soccer game delayed by Fukushima chants
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A Belgian soccer match was temporarily stopped on Friday after visiting fans taunted Japanese goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima with chants about the Fukushima disaster.
The referee halted the match between Lierse and Germinal Beerschot after some Beerschot supporters threw a projectile in the direction of Kawashima before insulting him with chants of "Kawashima-Fukushima!"
Following protests by Kawashima, the referee decided to bring play to a halt for several minutes until order was restored.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw, but the 28-year-old left the field at full-time in tears, and spoke of his anger at the chants.
He said: "I am prepared to forget about a lot of things, but not that.
"Using the drama of Fukushima in this manner is not at all funny."
An earthquake and tsunami in March devastated large parts of Japan's northeast coastline and left more than 20,000 people dead or missing.
Another 100,000 people were evacuated because of radiation leakage from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
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Following protests by Kawashima, the referee decided to bring play to a halt for several minutes until order was restored.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw, but the 28-year-old left the field at full-time in tears, and spoke of his anger at the chants.
He said: "I am prepared to forget about a lot of things, but not that.
"Using the drama of Fukushima in this manner is not at all funny."
An earthquake and tsunami in March devastated large parts of Japan's northeast coastline and left more than 20,000 people dead or missing.
Another 100,000 people were evacuated because of radiation leakage from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
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