Japan Pro Soccer Club Zelvia Files Complaints over Defamation

Tokyo, Oct. 15 (Jiji Press)--Japanese professional soccer club Machida Zelvia said Tuesday that it has filed criminal complaints against people who posted defamatory comments on its players and manager on social media.

The complaints were accepted by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, according to the club, which belongs to the J1 top division of the Japan Professional Football League, or J.League.

Defamatory comments included those that called players and the manager “a big chunk of garbage” or “yakuza gangsters,” a lawyer for the club told a press conference.

The number of new comments believed to be defaming the players and the manager sometimes tops 1,000 a day, according to the lawyer.

On Oct. 6, Machida Zelvia, based in the Tokyo city of Machida, established a contact point to seek information about online comments throwing mud at its players and manager.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]