Friday night's 3-2 win by Shonan Bellmare over Urawa Reds showcased everything great about the J. League, with the plucky underdogs winning in stoppage time to cap a dramatic comeback.
Unfortunately, it also saw one of the league's biggest problems — inconsistent officiating — evolve from private shame to global embarrassment, following referee Yudai Yamamoto's failure to award a clear goal scored by Bellmare's Daiki Sugioka.
The league's tendency to sweep bad decisions under the rug is familiar to those who have watched it for years. In the past, such plays — whether phantom offsides or uncalled fouls — were rarely discussed by commentators and never made the evening news.
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