Brighton & Hove Albion has issued a formal apology after its academy's social media post sparked fury in China. The Premier League club shared an image on X featuring Japanese star Kaoru Mitoma and an academy player holding a football card depicting Hiroo Onoda, a notorious Japanese Imperial Army officer who refused to surrender for nearly 30 years after World War Two ended.
The post went viral on Chinese social media platform Weibo, triggering immediate anger among fans. Brighton swiftly deleted the post and apologized to its Chinese supporters.
The Controversial Figure
Hiroo Onoda was a Japanese intelligence officer who continued fighting in the Philippine jungle until 1974, believing the war was still ongoing. During this period, he killed 30 local civilians on Lubang Island, mistaking them for enemy combatants.
He finally surrendered only after intervention from his former commanding officer. While briefly hailed as a hero in Japan upon his return, Onoda remains a deeply inflammatory figure in China, where Imperial Japanese military actions during WWII caused millions of deaths.
The Japanese government had officially declared Onoda dead in 1959, but he emerged alive 15 years later. He died in Tokyo in January 2014 at age 91.
Brighton's Response
Brighton stated: «The club sincerely apologises for any offence caused in China by a recent post about our Academy's participation in the Premier League Christmas Truce Tournament. We hugely value our fans in China and had no intention of causing any offence.»
Sources told the BBC the post was a "genuine error" by academy officials who were unaware of the historical sensitivities surrounding Onoda. How the controversial football card was created or selected remains unclear.
Original Intent
The post was meant to promote Brighton's Under-12 side's participation in the Christmas Truce Cup in Belgium, which they qualified for after winning the Premier League Education Project. The tournament is named after the 1914 ceasefires during World War One, when German and British soldiers played informal football on Christmas Day.
The Premier League describes the tournament as offering "academy Under-12 players a chance to test their footballing talent against top European clubs while gaining an understanding of the historical events that shaped our world."
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
