Junya Ito was on Thursday left out of Japan’s squad to face North Korea home and away in World Cup qualifiers, a month after he exited the Asian Cup over sexual assault allegations.
The winger left the tournament in Qatar after it emerged that he was under investigation by Japanese police over an alleged incident in Osaka last year.
Ito denies the allegations and is suing his accusers for 200 million yen ($1.3 million) in damages.
Japan’s football association said at the Asian Cup that Ito’s departure was to protect the player and team from a media furore.
The 30-year-old has since been playing regularly for French club Reims but he was left out of Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu’s squad to face North Korea in Tokyo on March 21 and Pyongyang five days later.
The allegations emerged as Japan were preparing to play Bahrain in the last 16 at the Asian Cup.
Ito was an unused substitute for the game and left the squad before their 2-1 quarter-final defeat to Iran.
He was backed by Reims and has played five times for the French club since returning from the Asian Cup.
Moriyasu handed a surprise recall to veteran full-back Yuto Nagatomo, who had not been called up since the 2022 World Cup.
The 37-year-old is Japan’s second most-capped player ever with 142 international appearances.
Moriyasu retained the services of goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, who made several high-profile mistakes at the Asian Cup.
Suzuki, whose father is Ghanaian-American and mother Japanese, also said he was racially abused online during the tournament.
Moriyasu recalled goalkeeper Keisuke Osako, who missed the Asian Cup through injury.
Japan have made a perfect start to World Cup qualifying with wins over Myanmar and Syria.
North Korea lost 1-0 to Syria before thrashing Myanmar 6-1.
The game in Pyongyang will be Japan’s first in the North Korean capital since 2011.
