Soccer: Japan sticking to sport in Qatar, JFA boss Tashima says

Japan Football Association President Kozo Tashima indicated Monday that Samurai Blue representatives will not publicly engage in any of the political discourse that has engulfed the World Cup in Qatar.

Various players and teams have been outspoken in their criticisms of the host nation's stances on LGBT and women's rights, worker safety and compensation, as well as the process through which the Middle Eastern nation was awarded the tournament.

But Japan is not about to get involved, according to Tashima.

"It's not good to talk about things other than football at this stage," Tashima told reporters at the Japanese training base.

The controversy came to a head on Monday when England backed down on a pledge by their captain Harry Kane to wear a rainbow armband to protest Muslim nation Qatar's position on same-sex relationships.

FIFA apparently threatened "sporting sanctions" if Kane or others had gone ahead with the protest, raising the prospect of players being shown yellow cards if they did not comply.

"We are very frustrated by the FIFA decision which we believe is unprecedented," the England FA said in a statement.

"As national federations, we can't put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games."

Tashima said Japan will meanwhile "just focus on football."

"I hope other teams are the same," he said.

© Kyodo News