The “Home and Away” system should be Adopted
　It has been decided that the preliminary competition of the Asian Group for the Munich Olympics will be held in Seoul, Korea, next October but earlier there had been some confusion concerning the decision.
　Previously, a suggestion on the matter had been made to FIFA by a member of the Asian Football Confederation without the agreement of the National Associations concerned.　It had been proposed to use Seoul as the site for the competition involving Korea, Japan, Nationalist China and the Philippines. The FIFA Amateur Committee endorsed　it but stipulated　there should　beａ conference　before　the　end　of　the　year between the Associations concerned.
　The conference was　held　in Bangkok on December 18th, when Japan insisted that thesitc and system to be adopted for the competition should be reconsidered. Nationalist China　and the Philippines supported the Japanese viewpoint but Sir Stanley Rous, President of　FIFA, declared that the endorsement of the FIFA Amateur Committee could not be overruled.
　It appears　that the “Central System” for the　preliminary competition　was always been a source of trouble on the matter of site, refereeing　and　financial affairs.　We believe that it is time to adopt the “Home and Away”system in the Asian zone as in the other Continental Federations. Travelling expenses should not be the major concern.　In all countries except Japan, football is the most popular sport, so that the gate money of the home country would be enough to cover all expenses.　Even in Japan, the Association is confident about the financial　aspects　of　the“Home　and　Away" system, should it be adopted. However from the sporting side, it could hardly be said that the“Home and Away”system is the most advisable.

　Asian　Games, in Bangkok
　Although I myself was not in Bangkok to watch the sixth Asian Games which were held there from December 9th to December 20th, Mr. Takumi　Harada, our　special correspondent, sent us the following information and opinions.

　Golden Age for the Koreans : 　 The final of the football tournament took place just before the closing ceremony in the Bangkok Stadium on December 20th. Korea drewagainst Burma, the former Champion 0-0. Thus，The Korean team showed that it is in its golden age in Asian　football.　The Korean National team, known as “The Blue Dragons” have　won　three　Asian titles in 1970. They won the Merdeka Tournament of Malaysia in August and the King’s Cup of Thailand　in　November. Furthermore they have maintained their unbeaten record at home, which? ?included a draw against Eusebio's Benfica of Lisbon in September.

　The hardest Schedule : 　Burma was awarded the silver medal, while India received the bronze. Japan had been eliminated in the semi-final, following the hardest match of the tournament, which went into extratime against Korea, thus leaving Japan in fourth place. However, their performance was so impressive that they won the admiration of the local spectators. The Japanese players were forced to play seven matches in 10 days and were　clearly exhausted at the end of the competition.　The group league system was much too complicated to create more fixtures to increase the receipts for the organisation of the Games.

　The Standard　of the　Competition :　Although most of the matches were　exciting and the general standard of play was satisfactory, there were still some problems. Defensive　tactics were　far superior to striking power, and poor　goalkeeping did much to allowing a total of 45 goals ― an average of two per match.
Refereeing also left something to be　desired.　It　should　be noted that　shooting, goalkeeping　and refereeing are　the major problems to be solved in Asian football.

■