Exiled, but no regrets for Myanmar footballer two years after protest

TOKYO: Refugee goalkeeper Pyae Lyan Aung fears for his safety if he returns home to Myanmar but he says he has no regrets about raising an anti-junta salute before a game two years ago.

The former Myanmar international flashed the three-fingered gesture, a popular symbol of protest against the country's 2021 military coup, as his team lined up to face Japan in a World Cup qualifier in Chiba, near Tokyo.

Worried about what would happen if he returned to Myanmar, he refused to board the flight home and was eventually granted refugee status in Japan.

Now, as the two teams prepare to face each other again in Osaka on Thursday (Nov 16), Pyae Lyan Aung has given up football and still cannot return home to meet his family.

But he insists that he did nothing wrong by making his one-man protest, and wants the world to know what is happening in Myanmar.

"Everyone wants to be a top player, but sacrificing that is nothing compared to what is happening in the country," the 27-year-old told AFP.

"I can't accept this unjust coup happening in Myanmar, and I think I did the right thing for a citizen to do."

Myanmar's military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power in a February 2021 coup, triggering a mass uprising that saw hundreds of thousands protest daily for a return to democracy.

The Myanmar team arrived in Japan for their May 2021 match missing several players who had boycotted the trip in opposition to the junta.

Around 70 protesters gathered outside the stadium before kick-off, carrying pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi and waving flags from the country's 1988 uprising.

Pyae Lyan Aung was a substitute and TV cameras captured him making the Hunger Games-inspired salute on the sidelines.

He says his teammates had decided before