Machida Zelvia’s Japan international forward Koki Ogawa yanked 16-year-old midfielder Makoto Mitsudera down by the back of his jersey in the 21st minute of the second half of the match against Yokohama F. Marinos (September 12, National Stadium), but no foul was called and play continued. Right after the match ended in a 1-1 draw, Yokohama FM forward Yuki Kondo was shown a yellow card for pulling Yuki Soma’s shirt — and the inconsistency in officiating standards became a hot topic on social media. On 5channel, many said “It’s not Ogawa’s fault, it’s the referee’s fault for not blowing the whistle,” while others criticized the play itself as “dirty” and “embarrassing for a national team player,” leaving opinion split.
A single play by Machida Zelvia’s Japan international forward Koki Ogawa (29) during the match against Yokohama F. Marinos (September 12, MUFG National Stadium) has drawn attention on social media.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw, but the incident happened in the 21st minute of the second half, while Yokohama FM led 1-0. Ogawa grabbed the shirt of opposing midfielder Makoto Mitsudera (16) from behind and pulled him down. Mitsudera appealed for a foul, but play continued as normal.
Immediately after, Yokohama FM forward Yuki Kondo was shown a yellow card for pulling midfielder Yuki Soma’s shirt, which put Ogawa’s earlier action even more in the spotlight. Comments flooded social media questioning the officiating, including “How is that not a foul?” and “There’s no way that yellow for Kondo makes sense — if that’s a card, why wasn’t Ogawa carded for doing the same thing moments earlier?”
Source: tokyo-sports.co.jp / Original article here
0-0 drags on forever
No shots at all, just endless passing
No intricate strategy like baseball
Guys flop dramatically without even being touched
Snitching to the ref to get an opponent sent off
Violence when the ref isn't looking
A national team player pulling a 16-year-old's shirt when the ref isn't looking
Soccer fans have low manners too
A call favoring Kashima and Machida, lol
It's not soft on it — it literally says a yellow was given.
Ogawa's just got overlooked because it happened away from the ball.
If that had happened inside the box, VAR would've caught it and it'd have been a penalty.
Doesn't matter if it's away from the ball, a foul's a foul though.
Taking out a player who might get involved in a scoring chance, away from the ball — that's basically Machida's, or really coach Kuroda's, go-to move.
Ogawa's play wasn't clean either, but it's not really worth criticizing him for.
And honestly attitudes toward what counts as a foul have been shifting since this World Cup.
Why'd that suddenly turn into a yellow card, lol
Honestly had no idea.
No need to go that far though.
Going to Machida was the mistake.
That's it.
this time it just happened not to be called a foul —
what if he pulls this in a national team match and gets a straight red?
Then the team's stuck playing a man down for the rest of the game.
That's way too much risk for a player like this.
It'd just be a yellow since it's not DOGSO (denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity) — it was a bit far from goal anyway.
There's no way something like this turns into a red card.
so what's one more strike against them, lol
Feels like the favoritism just shifted from Kawasaki to Machida.
You didn't even see it and you're still weighing in?
That's funny.
Of course you stop the play even if it means risking a foul.
The one at fault is the referee who didn't call it.
If you can't handle that, you won't make it on the world stage.
If anything, the rest of the world is way tougher than this.
What exactly are people trying to coddle here?
Keep it up and you'll stunt players who could actually grow.
Everyone makes a big deal about referee quality,
but honestly, low-quality fans getting in the way of a player's growth is the bigger problem.
For some reason the ref just didn't call a foul.
Isn't that a referee-quality issue?
That's not some flimsy excuse.
Whether something is right or wrong isn't always so black and white.
If the ref had just blown the whistle none of this would've happened — guess he gave the rookie a little welcome-to-the-pros baptism, lol
He gave a college player the same treatment too.
Except they lost that one.
And then made excuses about it on top of that.
Background and Key Points of Debate
In soccer, pulling an opponent’s shirt to stop their movement is known as a “professional foul,” and if it denies a clear goal-scoring opportunity it can result in a red card — but minor contact in an area unrelated to the ball is often waved off at the referee’s discretion. Since this incident happened outside the penalty area, it wasn’t subject to VAR review either. On the thread, the main point of contention isn’t “Ogawa’s personal conduct” so much as the fact that the standard for calling fouls shifted within the same match. Some comments also brought up frustrations with Machida’s tactics and past conduct, but that’s a separate issue from this specific play and should be read apart from the facts of the article itself. Also worth noting: Mitsudera’s age of 16 is mentioned in comments to emphasize how bad the foul looks, but the play itself is the kind of foul that could happen to a player of any age.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Soccer] Machida’s Koki Ogawa causes a stir by pulling 16-year-old Makoto Mitsudera’s shirt — questions over the officiating, some disappointment too.”
