Spanish footballers draw record crowds to Japanese stadiums

The participation of two Spanish football stars, Andres Iniesta and Fernando Torres, in Japan's JLeague since July has been a major contributing factor to the rise in the number of spectators in Japanese stadiums, according to the data released on Thursday.

Iniesta joined Vissel Kobe, ranked 10th in the First Division of the Japanese League - comprising 18 teams - while Torres joined Sagan Tosu, which is placed 14th, reports Efe news.

There was an average increase of 19,064 spectators - a figure not seen in a decade - in each match of the season that began on February 23 and ended on December 1, according to the data that JLeague presented Wednesday and released to the media on Thursday.

In addition, there were a total of 84 matches in which the stadiums were filled compared to 69 of the 2017 season.

As for the data from Vissel Kobe, there was an increase of 44.2 percent in the number of spectators while in the case of Sagan Tosu, the increase was of 38.7 percent.

The JLeague report dedicated two of its 92 pages to the contribution of Iniesta and Torres in Japanese football.

--IANS

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