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Japan's J-League will take no punitive measures after Tokyo Verdy striker Leandro's claim that an opponent had mocked him with racist taunts.

The J-League's disciplinary committee launched an investigation into the accusations following a bust-up after Verdy's midweek game with Ventforet Kofu.

However, officials said on Saturday they were unable to verify Leandro's claims Kofu defender Arata Sugiyama had called him a "chimpanzee."

The Brazilian was booked at the final whistle after protesting that too little injury time had been played and complained Sugiyama had racially abused him in the subsequent melee.

Sugiyama, who was also alleged to have made ape-like gestures, denied making any remarks to Leandro.

"The Kofu player denied making the remark and the other players said they did not hear him say it," said J-League chief secretary Hideyuki Hanyu.

"The J-League now has 36 teams and we have more foreign players coming in so racist problems are something we will need to deal with."

Kofu President Kazuyuki Umino said he believed Leandro had mis-heard Sugiyama.

"Sugiyama probably said the world 'shinpan' (referee) and it may have sounded like (chimpanzee)," Umino told the Sports Nippon daily. "He had no logical reason to call him that."

Incidents of racism towards black players are rare in the J-League, although crowd violence has become a problem at some grounds, notably Japan's best-supported club Urawa Reds.

Reuters