DOHA: Japan said yesterday they will protest a red card controversially handed to goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima in their cliff-hanging 2-1 win over Syria at the Asian Cup.
“We will send a letter to the Asian Football Confederation asking them to make sure there is no recurrence of such an incident for the development of football,” Japan Football Association (JFA) spokesman Hideki Kato told AFP.
But he said the JFA had dropped the idea of seeking a retraction of any ban as AFC rules insist an appeal must be filed within two hours after the match.
As Syria trailed 1-0, Iranian referee Torky Mohsen sent off the Lierse SK custodian for bringing down Sanharib Malki despite the player being flagged offside. Firas Al Khatib calmly converted the spot kick on 76 minutes.
Japanese players and officials fiercely protested with JFA technical director Hiromi Hara calling it a “misjudgment”.
The referee insisted Malki was not offside despite being behind Kawashima by claiming the ball was played back towards the goalkeeper by Yasuyuki Konno and not a Syrian player who was challenging for it with the Japan defender.
Japan nevertheless went on to win with CSKA Moscow star Keisuke Honda making sure of three points by converting his own penalty six minutes later.
Japan are level on four points in Group B with Jordan, one point clear of Syria with one more match to play.
Kawashima’s absence will be a big blow to the Blue Samurai’s bid for a record fourth continental title.
He was a national hero at the World Cup in South Africa when Japan reached the last-16 for the first time on foreign soil.
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