MYANMAR GOALIE WHO GAVE PROTEST SALUTE STAYS IN JAPAN

A substitute goalkeeper of the Myanmar national team who raised a three-finger salute in protest against the country's military during a qualifying match for the 2022 World Cup in late May told Kyodo News that he has chosen to stay in Japan rather than go home with his teammates.

Speaking to reporters through a supporter at Kansai airport in Osaka Prefecture early Thursday, Pyae Lyan Aung, 27, said he refused to return home of his own accord and that he will apply for refugee status.

In online interviews held earlier, Pyae Lyan Aung cited fear of detention and "no guarantee of life" under military-ruled Myanmar if he returned home.

The salute has frequently been used as a show of resistance by protesters and others in the Southeast Asian country opposed to the February coup that ousted a democratically elected government. He was supposed to fly back home with his teammates on Wednesday night.

Pyae Lyan Aung said in the interview that he wants to return home "when" the government led by leader Aung San Suu Kyi, which was ousted in the Feb. 1 coup, returns to power.

The Justice Ministry said in May it will allow Myanmar residents who wish to remain in Japan longer to extend their stay as an emergency measure. The measure also covers people from Myanmar seeking refugee status in Japan.

At the match between Japan and Myanmar in Chiba city near Tokyo on May 28, while Myanmar's national anthem was played, Pyae Lyan Aung raised three fingers of his right hand with "WE NEED JUSTICE" written on them in English.

The footage went viral on social media. "I would like the Japanese government and the international community to support us so we can take back justice and a fair society," Pyae Lyan Aung added.

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