As Japan stands in suspended disbelief, Ryuju Nagayama might take some comfort in the fact that he was not entirely at fault for the country’s disappointment yesterday. When Nagayama refused to leave the mat or shake the hand of his Spanish opponent’s hand after his defeat in the quarterfinal bout, fans slammed the judoka for his unsportsmanlike behavior. However, as it turns out, the fault was probably somewhere else entirely.

Since the controversial match ended, uproar about the referee’s possible mistake took over social media. And now, as the clamor continues, the referee who officiated the match has come forward with his own statement. In a recent article by Mainichi, Keiji Suzuki, the Japanese men’s judo squad’s coach revealed that the referee admitted the “matte” call was a mistake.

However, this doesn’t imply that the verdict of yesterday’s match is likely to be overturned.