An invitational match hosted by the Korean Football Association was held in Jinju, southern South Korea, from Tuesday, August 12th to Sunday, August 17th. I was there to watch the last two days of the match.
The six participating countries were Korea, Japan, France, Argentina, Czech Republic, and Sweden. Japan was the only country to participate with its B team, and the rest of the teams were mostly the same members who participated in the World Championships. In other words, for the teams other than Japan and Korea, who were not participating in the World Championships, this was a friendly match that also served as a final tune-up for the World Championships.
Despite participating as the B team, Japan recorded a winning record of 3 wins and 2 losses. On the final day, against Sweden, which had the world's number one opposite, Haak, they came from 0-2 down to win the third set in a close match 38-36, achieving a 3-2 victory.
However, the previous day they lost the match against the host team, South Korea, 2-3. Moreover, it was an unfair match in which points were awarded to the South Korean team due to a series of refereeing errors.
The venue, which had a capacity of about 5,000 people, was packed to capacity, with many people standing.
Of course, during the match, South Korea was in complete control, with many fans cheering for their home team along with the DJ and music, chanting "Republic of Korea!" However, there was no booing of the Japanese team, and some even applauded when Japan played well.
The match between Japan and South Korea was held the day after the anniversary of the end of the war on August 15th (Independence Day in South Korea), so I was a little worried about the singing of the Japanese national anthem, but the atmosphere at the venue was very peaceful.
Although there were some questionable calls up until the fourth set, I don't think they were too obvious. However, the fifth set was really bad. At least four points went to South Korea due to incorrect calls. Of those, the following two points were clearly incorrect calls, as confirmed by the live broadcast footage.
First, in the scene shown in the photo below, the setter Takasa is called for an attack fault (a foul by a backcourt player attacking within the front zone). In reality, it was a one-handed set to a teammate, not an attack.
The serve was ruled in.
In addition, the team was called for a block touch even though they had not touched the ball, and for a net touch. There was no challenge system in this tournament, and all decisions were left to the judges, so although the Japanese team protested, they were unable to overturn the decision.
The score in the fifth set was 12-15, so if Japan had scored those four points, or even just two, the outcome would have been different.
It was a truly disappointing match. If something like this were to happen, not only would the losing Japanese team not be happy, but the winning Korean team would not be able to truly enjoy it either. The same could be said for the Korean fans, who after the match realized we were Japanese approached us and told us, "That wasn't fair."
In the comments section of the match video uploaded to YouTube, there are many comments written in Korean such as "I'm embarrassed" and "I want to apologize to Japan."
Naturally, this became a hot topic in South Korea as well, and when KBS, South Korea's equivalent of NHK, conducted a telephone interview with an executive of the Korea Volleyball Association, he acknowledged that there were decisions that favored South Korea, but said, "The association does not put pressure on the decisions."
However, it seems that many guests, including politicians, were in attendance to watch the game, and it cannot be denied that there was some consideration for them. The ceremonial first pitch was also thrown by five important men at the same time.
The South Korean women's team achieved a respectable fourth place finish at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but their performance has declined sharply since their mainstay Kim Yeon-kyung left the national team. They were demoted to the bottom of this year's Nations League and were also unable to participate in the World Championships due to their ranking. Despite the team's rock-bottom situation, they remain popular, with 5,000 fans packing the venue for the regional games.
The Japanese men's national team, which was also struggling in 2014 and missed out on the World Championships, would not have been able to attract such large crowds.
That is why I hope that the Korean volleyball community will not betray their fans in this way. Please reflect on your actions.
▶ Start your free trial with U-NEXT now
English 
Japanese