Jeonbuk Motors on Thursday ran an apology on the South Korean K-League club's official website after a group of fans put up a banner making fun of the March 11 Tohoku earthquake during Tuesday's Asian Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Cerezo Osaka.
Cerezo sent a letter of complaint to the Asian Football Confederation over the banner hung from the stands that read in Japanese: "Let's celebrate Japan's big earthquake."
"We apologize to soccer lovers over the controversial behavior of a small number of fans," read the apology.
Cerezo staff noticed the banner during the game at Jeonju World Cup Stadium and complained to the match organizers, who ordered the fans to take it down.
Jeonbuk hammered Cerezo 6-1 to reach the semifinals, going through 9-5 on aggregate.