Japanese club captain criticized for refusing to shake hands with opponent

Marius Hoibraten of Urawa Reds Club (Japan) caused confusion when he did not shake hands with opponent River Plate (Argentina) at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.

River Plate players were surprised when Marius Hoibraten did not shake hands - Source: X/DAZN

Early on June 18, Argentina's traditional team River Plate had an easy 3-1 victory over Japan's Urawa Reds. Facundo Solidio, Sebastian Driussi and Maximiliano Meza were the players who scored to help the South American representative have a favorable opening day in Group E of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

However, a rare moment occurred before the match, when Urawa Reds captain Marius Hoibraten "refused" to shake hands with his opponents.

After the players were introduced and walked onto the Lumen Field pitch, Hoibraten made a puzzling move by walking straight through the opponent's line, skipping the traditional handshake.

The River Plate players could only look on with confused and surprised faces, while Hoibraten's teammates behind him still stepped forward and shook hands as usual.

This caused him to be heavily criticized by fans of the Argentine team. On social network X, many opinions said that his behavior was very disrespectful.

Marius Hoibraten said he did not know he needed to shake hands before the match - Photo: AFP

After the match, Hoibraten took to social media to explain, and the reason he gave was surprising: he didn't know he had to do it.

In his post, the 30-year-old defender wrote: "To the River Plate fans. I forgot to shake hands because the pre-match preparation was so new. I was confused and distracted and didn't understand what to do. That's why I passed without shaking hands."

He added: "This action seems like I have no respect for you and the players. This was not my intention at all. I apologised to the players in the dressing room after the game and now I apologise to the fans of the team."

Hoibraten (30) is a versatile player who can play as a centre-back or left-back. He joined Urawa Reds in 2023, after previously playing for Bodo/Glimt and Lillestrom. He is also a former Norway U21 international.

Watch FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ live and only in Vietnam on FPT Play, at http://fptplay.vn.

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THANH DINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/doi-truong-clb-nhat-ban-bi-chi-trich-vi-tu-choi-bat-tay-doi-thu-20250618203351251.htm