Myanmar Soccer Player To Train With Japanese Club
A Myanmar soccer player awaiting a decision on his asylum application in Japan will join a professional football club in Yokohama as a trainee.
Pyae Lyan Aung came to Japan in May as a goalkeeper of Myanmar's national team to play in a World Cup qualifier.
He flashed a three-finger salute before the match in a gesture of protest against Myanmar's military government. He remained in Japan after his team left, out of fear of persecution in his country and applied for refugee status.
Y.S.C.C Yokohama, a soccer club in Kanagawa Prefecture that belongs to the J3 League, invited him for practice earlier this month.
Learning that he is eager to continue playing soccer in Japan, the club decided on Friday to take him on as a trainee.
Pyae Lyan Aung has been granted a 6-month permit to live and work in Japan as part of the Japanese government's special arrangement for Myanmar nationals who wish to remain in Japan.
He is expected to move to Kanagawa from Osaka, where he is currently staying, to start practice.
A representative of Y.S.C.C Yokohama, Yoshino Jiro, says the goalkeeper fell short of signing a pro contract with the club, but there is a possibility that he will be able to do so depending on his performance.