"6-1 is 0-3!" Hiroshima lost to confiscation... "Isn't the AFC intentional?" Unconfirmed of the "denial player" and conspiracy theories
"6-1 is 0-3!" Hiroshima lost to confiscation... "Isn't the AFC intentional?" Unconfirmed of the "denial player" and conspiracy theories
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The Sanfrecce Hiroshima Carp in the Japanese J-League suffered a humiliating forfeiture. Some fans even claimed that it was a conspiracy by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
AFC announced on the 8th (Korea Standard Time) that it will treat the match between Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Lion City Salers (Singapore) in the first leg of the 2024-2025 AFC Champions League Two (ACLT) quarterfinals held in Hiroshima Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima, Japan, on the 5th (Korea Standard Time) as a forfeited loss for Hiroshima due to illegal player participation.
It is an absurd play. Hiroshima scored six goals to secure a landslide 6-1 victory against the Lion City on the day. The team was completely defeated by a lower-ranked team, but was found to have had a foul play after the match. Valer Germain, who made his Hiroshima debut as a substitute in the latter half of the day, was registered as a player.
Germain had fun with his teammates as he scored his team's fifth goal. However, he was not eligible to participate in the match. When he was playing for his former team, McCarthy FC (Australia), he slapped his opponent in the face against the AFC Cup Central Coaster Mariners in February 2024. Although he was not sent off, he was later suspended from three matches of the AFC Championship.
However, since then, McCaser has never played in an AFC-hosted competition, and Germain has never had a chance to discipline him. Naturally, the disciplinary action remained until Germain moved to Hiroshima.
Hiroshima was not aware of this at all. After the game, Ryan City asked for confirmation of players who were unfaithful, and AFC admitted that and declared Hiroshima's 0-3 forfeiture. Furthermore, Hiroshima paid a fine of 1,000 U.S. dollars and was banned from receiving 80,000 dollars out of 160,000 dollars for the quarterfinalists.
The Hiroshima team admitted its wrongdoing. "We have banned players due to insufficient confirmation on the matter. We deeply apologize for the many concerns and inconveniences caused to you. We will make efforts to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future and cooperate with relevant ministries," the team said on its website.
Hiroshima's advance to the semifinals is now a red light. As the team's landslide 6-1 victory instantly turned into a 0-3 loss, the team had to upset its three-goal gap in away matches in Singapore in the second round. Hiroshima beat Vissel Kobe to win the Super Cup title last month, but suffered a humiliating forfeiture and thus saw its upward momentum slow down.
"Germain has been suspended for three games and is now considered to have received one game. Japanese clubs are usually regarded as the best-organized clubs in Asia. Considering this, it is unusual that Hiroshima overlooked such an issue," said ESPN.
Japanese fans are also puzzled. One fan expressed doubt, saying, "Germain must have known," while another said, "What? You're out. Players will be traumatized. Even if we win a great victory in away games, fatigue will increase." 바카라
Some blamed AFC, not Hiroshima. One fan wrote in an article on the Football Zone, "Isn't the organizing team checking in advance at the time when players are registered? If it's a forfeited game, they should have declared forfeiture when they were in the lineup. It's strange that they will declare forfeiture later."