Japan has two players accused of rape in the World Cup squad; understand

Japan is Brazil's opponent in the match this Monday (29), at 2pm (Brasília time), valid for the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup. Among those called up, the Asian representative has two players who were recently accused of rape.

In July 2024, steering wheel Kaishu Sano was arrested by Tokyo police on charges of having sexually assaulted a woman aged around 30 in a hotel in the Japanese capital. He was detained alongside two other suspects.

A year later, the player returned to the Japanese national team and publicly apologized for what happened. "I sincerely apologize for having caused inconvenience and concern to so many people because of my actions. From now on, I intend to continue demonstrating, through my attitudes, words and everything I can do, my commitment, in addition to contributing to society off the field", he said at the time.

"I have been following his journey all the time and, after speaking personally with him, I felt strongly that he is truly remorseful. When we consider each member of the team as part of a family, I asked myself, as a coach facing a player, whether we should simply exclude someone from society or the world of football for making a mistake. I decided that it would be better, as a family, to offer him an opportunity to start over," said Hajime Moriyasu, Japan's coach since 2018.

Another who experienced a similar situation was striker Junya Ito, who scored one of the Asian team's goals in the 4-0 rout of Tunisia in the second round of the World Cup. In early 2024, the Japanese magazine "Shukan Shincho" reported that the police opened an investigation after two women reported that the athlete had committed sexual abuse against them in a hotel in Osaka, while they were both drunk.

At the time, the national team cut Ito from competing in the Asian Cup. He filed a criminal complaint against these two women, accusing them of false reports. In August of the same year, prosecutors from the Public Ministry decided not to file charges against either the player or his accusers, citing a lack of evidence.

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Source: CNN