Urawa Reds striker Tadanari Lee has urged Japanese soccer to follow the Premier League's zero-tolerance attitude toward racism after taking part in the first J. League game to be played behind doors.
Urawa drew 1-1 with Shimizu S-Pulse on Sunday at an empty Saitama Stadium after the J. League handed the club an unprecedented one-game supporter ban for a "Japanese only" banner hung by fans over an entrance to a stand at a game earlier this month.
Lee, who joined Urawa from English side Southampton at the start of the year, has suffered racist abuse in the past as a Zainichi Korean born and raised in Tokyo, and applauded the J. League's efforts to tackle discrimination in Japanese stadiums.
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