On June 3, under the leadership of head coach Hajime Moriyasu, all members of the Japanese national team flew to Mexico for the final pre-FIFA World Cup training camp.
Recently, a Mexican journalist posted an article pointing out that Kaishu Sano, a Japanese team player currently training locally, was arrested in 2024 on suspicion of rape. On his personal social media, he posted Sano's photo and warned Mexican women to be vigilant. This post has been viewed more than 8 million times.
After causing an uproar in local Mexican public opinion, more related posts emerged one after another. In one of the Panini star cards, Kaishu Sano's face was completely blacked out with a marker, with the caption: "All sexual abusers should go to hell."
In July 2024, Kaishu Sano transferred to the Bundesliga team Mainz 05 for 2.5 million euros. Just ten days later, he and two friends were suspected of gang-raping a woman in a hotel in Tokyo. At that time, after having dinner with two women, they moved to a reserved party room. One of the women left first, and between 2 and 4 in the morning, the three men sexually assaulted the other woman who stayed behind. The victim immediately called the police, who arrested the men on a nearby street. Sano admitted to the sexual assault, but the case was ultimately resolved privately through a settlement and did not enter formal prosecution procedures.
At the subsequent press conference, Kaishu Shano expressed his apology. The Japan Football Association, after claiming to have conducted thorough internal discussions, concluded that he had only made a mistake and welcomed him back to the field. A year later, Kaishu Sano returned to the Japanese national team and was selected for this FIFA World Cup squad last month.
