Qotbi himself was not involved in the matter. In fact, the team, Shimizu S-Pulse, was not directly involved either. The controversy was entirely between handfuls of fans from S-Pulse and their nearby rivals, Jubilo Iwata, a soccer team from the same prefecture.
Before a game against Jubilo Iwata on May 28, two teenaged fans from Jubilo Iwata came into the Shimizu S-Pulse stadium and unfurled a banner in Japanese that said, “To Qotbi, stop making nuclear weapons.”
The league said that video showed about 10 Shimizu fans crossed into the visitors’ section and scuffled with the Jubilo fans, injuring two of hem.
The league blamed the disorder on the Shimizu club for failing to provide adequate security, as required by the league.
The league also reprimanded Jubilo for the uncultured conduct of its fans. Jubilo has already banned the two teens from all league matches for an indefinite period.
J-League Chairman Kazumi Ohigashi told the Japanese media last week, “We concluded that the banner was not of a racist nature.”
Qotbi said after the banner incident that he would like to meet the teens. “I actually suggested a meeting, to just sit down and maybe inform them that what they did is wrong.”
Qotbi, 47, was born in Iran and reared in the United States. He has worked in soccer in the United States, South Korea, Iran and now Japan. His wife is South Korean.
He took over as coach of Shimizu in February after the Iranian national team, which he was coaching, was washed out of the World Cup and Asian Cup.
Shimizu S-Pulse, one of 18 teams in the senior Japanese league, is now in 9th place after 14 games of the 34-game season. The team finished sixth last year.
Under Qotbi, Shimizu has five wins, five draws and four losses.
