Clueless League Officials Exonerate "Drop Dead" Ref

As expected, the J League applied liberal coatings of whitewash when it came to "investigating" Yuichi Nishimura's verbal abuse of players. Nishimura, who was roundly jeered when announced as the match official at Toyota Stadium on Saturday, was accused of telling a player to "drop dead" during last week's game between FC Tokyo and Oita Trinita.

Despite reports that other players confirmed the referee's verbal abuse, in the absence of undeniable evidence the bureaucrats have sided with one of their own. Maybe fans should just chant "Die, Die, Die" each time Nishimura takes charge of a game from now on, since Gaptain Gormless seems nervous about all the fuss.