J. F. A. Coaching School
Encouraged by the success of the first FIFA Coaching School, held last year in Japan for Asian National Coaches, the Japanese Football Association has set up its own coaching school this summer at the Kemigawa Training Centre near Tokyo. Twenty-nine coaches, who represent the regional Associations of all parts of Japan, are participating under the leadership of Mr. Ryuzo Hiraki, a National Association Coach and member of the Technical Development Committee. They are engaging in ninety-four hours of practice and eighty hours of seminars on anatomy, physchology and physiology etc. for a period of one month commencing July 24th. In the future, similar courses will be held every spring and summer and it is expected that through their medium the standard of football coaching in Japan will be raised.
Amateur regulations revised
The Japanese Amateur Sports Association has decided to revise its regulations and to abrogate the provision prohibiting matches to be played between amateur and professional teams without special dispensation rom the J.A.S.A. The Japanese Football Association had previously been forced to ask permission on every single occasion in order to arrange matches with foreign professional teams.
We had long considered this to be unnecessary interference with the authority of the Japanese Football Association to control football in Japan and we had been campaigning against the provision. We should like to express our sincere thanks to the International Authorities and all who lent their support for our cause. |
Japan may host the World Cup Finals in1986.
Dr. Yuzuru Nozu, president of the J.F.A. and a member of FIFA Executive Committee, announced at his press conference on August 1st in Tokyo, that the Japanese Football Association is at present considering the possibility of Japan's hosting the thirteenth World Cup in 1986. He said that they are studying the various requirements for holding the competition in order to apply to FIFA as candidates.
The next three host countries have already been decided. It will be held in West Germany in 1974, in Argentina in 1978 and in Spain in 1982. As far as the 1986 tournament is concerned, Columbia has applied already and it is further reported that the U. S. A. is willing to have it. The final decision will be made by FIFA at their meeting in Argentina in 1978.
Although football is becoming increasingly popular in Japan these days, we should still have considerable difficulty in holding such a big football event as the World Cup. We have no stadium with a capacity of more than 80, 000 and it would therefore necessary to build one with a capacity of at least100,000 in Tokyo as well as some smaller ones in other cities. The standard of our national team would have to be higher and it has been pointed out that we should have professional footballers before holding the World Cup. Also, it would be necessary to overhaul the organisation of Japanese football in order to pave the way for more modern administration of the World Cup. Such conditions would not be easy to fulfill. However, we have sixteen years in which to prepare plus the experience of having been host country for the 1964 Olympics and International Expo 1970. Next, we hope it will be the World Cup. |
