Brighton have been forced to apologise after a post from the club’s academy on social media featured an image of a notorious Japanese soldier from World War Two.
A post on X showed Japanese forward Kaoru Mitoma alongside a player from the club’s academy, with the pair holding a football card that featured Hiroo Onoda.
Onoda was a Japanese Imperial Army Officer who failed to surrender after World War Two ended, becoming the last to do so in 1974 following an intervention from his former commanding officer.
He was initially hailed as a hero when returning to his homeland, but Onoda is a controversial figure in China as Japan committed several atrocities in the country during the war, while millions of Chinese people were killed by Imperial Japanese forces.
Onoda also killed 30 civilians on the island of Lubang in the Philippines after mistaking them for the enemy, with the notorious soldier refusing to believe the war had ended.
He had been hiding out in the Philippine jungle at the time, although the country’s government did later grant him a pardon.
Brighton’s post subsequently caused a huge furore on social media, particularly in China, with fans expressing anger and disappointment.
That came after it went viral on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
The post from the Seagulls’ academy was subsequently deleted.
The academy then later apologised and said: ‘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.’
It is unclear how the Onoda card came about, but alongside the image, Brighton had explained the club’s Under-12 side would be taking part in the Christmas Truce Cup in Belgium after winning the Premier League Education Project.
That tournament is named after the ceasefires that took place in 1914 during World War One when German and English soldiers took part in football matches on Christmas Day.
The Premier League describes the Christmas Truce Cup as a tournament that ‘offers 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’.
BBC Sport reported that the post and making of the cards was a ‘genuine error’ by Brighton officials, with the club having been unaware of the controversy in a major oversight.
Onoda served in the Japanese army between 1942 and 1974.
He had been declared dead by the country’s government in 1959, but he was actually in hiding in the Philippines at the time as he believed announcements claiming the war had ended were tricks from Japan’s enemies.
He passed away at the age of 91 in January 2014 in Tokyo.
