Japan goalkeeper racially abused online after Asian Cup Mistakes: Zion Suzuki, the goalie for Japan, claimed on Monday that he had received racist taunts on social media in the wake of his team’s shocking Asian Cup loss to Iraq.
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It follows two incidents of racist taunts during games in Italy and England directed at players.
Suzuki, whose mother is Japanese and whose father is Ghanaian-American, was responsible for Iraq’s first goal in Doha. Prior to this, Suzuki had previously made mistakes in their match against Vietnam.
The 21-year-old stated that while he understood that his performances have drawn criticism, he “would like people to stop making racist comments.”
“I’m not about to let it beat me,” he told reporters ahead of Japan’s final group game against Indonesia.
“I want to come back at them by producing good results.”
On Monday, Suzuki’s Instagram account seems to have disabled comments.
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In response to the events that occurred over the weekend in Italy and England, FIFA President Gianni Infantino demanded that fans be banned from stadiums globally and that clubs whose supporters hurl racist epithets face “automatic forfeits.”
During AC Milan’s thrilling 3-2 victory over Udinese, supporters hurled monkey chants at France goalie Mike Maignan, causing the game to be temporarily stopped.
Midfielder Kasey Palmer of Coventry, whose club won 2-1 on Saturday, accused Sheffield Wednesday supporters of treating him similarly during their Championship match.
