The Japanese Football Association has stated that it will be making an official complaint to international governing body FIFA after both forward Yasuhito Endo and goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima had lasers shone in their faces during yesterday’s qualifying match for the 2014 World Cup.

The match against Jordan ended in a 2-1 loss for Japan, who were hotly tipped to win after their strong performance in previous games.

With just 19 minutes left to play, Japanese forward Endo missed a penalty that would have brought the team level. Although he stated that it had not bothered him at the time, Endo remarked that he, too, had lasers shone in his face during the match, including the moments prior to taking his shot.

Take a look at this video, which clearly shows a lime-green laser being pointed directly at Japanese goalkeeper Kawashima’s face.   

Although we would not go so far as to argue that the game would have ended differently had the jokers with the laser pointers not been present, it is genuinely saddening to see such underhanded behaviour from fans hoping to sway the match in their own team’s favour. Let’s hope that security staff at the stadium do a better job of confiscating laser pointers, and vuvuzelas while they’re at it, for any upcoming games.

Source: はちま起稿, YouTube Testerpublic