Japanese soccer fans may have started a positive tradition at the World Cup games after viral images showed them cleaning their section of the stadium after their team’s matches.
The act, which has since gained the world’s respect and admiration after going viral online, has inspired fans of other teams to do the same.
After Japan’s World Cup opener with Colombia, Japanese fans were seen picking up trash before leaving the venue. Inspired by the gesture, some Colombian fans also started collecting garbage in their area.
Senegal fans were also filmed cleaning after their win over Poland.
#TyCSportsMundial Senegal consiguió un triunfo histórico. Pero sus hinchas en lugar de festejar a minutos de terminado el partido, se encargan de limpiar su sector antes de retirarse. #RESPECT. pic.twitter.com/RiKovpfmoT
— TyC Sports (@TyCSports) June 19, 2018
Both the Japanese and Senegalese supporters then continued the practice right after the Japan-Senegal match on Sunday, reports SoraNews24.
More impressively, it appears the practice is becoming a new tradition after matches with other teams.
The Uruguay-Saudi Arabia match last Wednesday saw fans of both camps picking up garbage around their seats.
MUNDIAL 2018: Aprendiendo: los hinchas uruguayos también limpiaron las tribunas https://t.co/sOBEHIaXwI pic.twitter.com/902LDmKUFN
— Ovación (@Ovaciondigital) June 20, 2018
👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/U6HMLWErky
— Mariana J. Rodríguez (@mariana4589) June 20, 2018
RESPECT: #SaudiArabia fans clean up their section of the Rostov Arena after the #KSA–#Uruguay match in #WorldCup. https://t.co/ENSYQ6UKXi pic.twitter.com/GYF8mct8mg
— Arab News (@arabnews) June 20, 2018
Some have earlier pointed out that the admirable behavior of Japanese soccer fans are not surprising as maintaining high standards of cleanliness is ingrained in Japanese culture.
“For our fans to come from Japan to Russia and be praised by the media and the whole world… We are very proud of that,” Japanese defender Maya Yoshida was quoted by SBS as saying.
“There is a saying in Japan that we must leave things cleaner than it was at the time we came to a place… That is one of the virtuous things fans are supposed to do. So that’s what they did.”
Let us hope the rest of the sports fandom continue to follow the commendable trend that the Japanese soccer fans have started.
Featured Image via Twitter / Ovacion (left) and ArabNews (right)
