Tokyo - A judge on Thursday ordered a professional Japanese baseball club to pay a woman $350 000 in damages after she was hit in the face and partially blinded by a foul ball.
The woman, in her 30s, filed a lawsuit against the Nippon Ham Fighters and Sapporo city where the team is based after she lost sight in her right eye, caused when the stray ball struck her during a game in August 2010.
The ball shattered her cheekbone and ruptured the eyeball.
Sapporo district court judge Yasuhiro Hasegawa on Thursday ruled that the Fighters should compensate the woman, saying that there were insufficient safety measures in place to prevent such an accident, local media reported.
The Fighters denied the charge, pointing out warnings that flash up on Sapporo Dome's giant screen cautioning fans to be aware of foul balls, and said they were considering whether to appeal the ruling, according to the Kyodo news agency.
Baseball stadiums in Japan have protective netting around the field of play, but foul balls frequently fly into the crowd, and prosecutors claimed there are hundreds of incidents of fans being struck each year, according to reports.
AFP