A former Brighton-related social media post containing highly controversial content caused an uproar. After the Premier League club apologized for the incident, Camel Live followed up with the report.
Brighton apologized for the incident where Kaoru Mitoma was pictured with a World War II Japanese military image and closed the comment section.
After awaiting guidance from the Premier League and communicating with the Premier League’s China office, Brighton’s academy account issued an apology statement, which was subsequently reposted by the main club account.
The statement read:“The club sincerely apologizes for the offense caused in China by a recent post about our academy's participation in the Premier League Christmas Truce Cup. We value our Chinese fans greatly and had no intention of causing offense.”
Brighton also apologized to Kaoru Mitoma. The winger, who has earned 29 caps for Japan, has impressed since joining Brighton – he received a £61 million ($81 million) offer from a Saudi Pro League club in January, despite the Seagulls signing him from Kawasaki Frontale for just £3 million.
A club spokesperson told Camel Live: “This is our responsibility. We have apologized, including to Kaoru himself, as we inadvertently put him in an awkward position. It was a genuine mistake. We have reviewed our processes and added additional checks to ensure similar content undergoes extra scrutiny in the future.”
The club also issued a written apology to Southeast Asian fan groups, stating it had caused “unintentional offense”; its welfare and protection team also explained to the parents of the U12 player in the post that he was completely innocent and had no reason to worry.
