St. George-Budapest Wins
St. George-Budapest, from Australia, won the Three Nations Tournament, which was held in Tokyo in March. Boldklubben Frem, of Denmark, and two Japanese selections took part and the matches were played on the ‘round robin' system. St. George-Budapest won the Cup, but the results ofthe Japanese “A” side were disappointing. They lost to the Danish team by one goal to nil and could only hold St. George-Buda-pest to a goalless draw.
Entries for the Asian Youth Tourney
The entrants for the 13th Asian Youth Football Tournament, which will be held in Tokyo, Yokohama and Omiya between April 23rd and May 17th, reached the record number of 17. The following countries will participate:
Burma, Nepal, the Phillipines, India, Singapore, Taiwan, South Vietnam, South Korea, Hong Kong, Israel, Laos, Indonesia, Thailand, Iran, Kuwait and Japan.
Too Heavy a Schedule
The Japanese Football Association finally decided not to send its team to the Korean President's Gup tournament to be held in Seoul, next May, The Korean Association strongly requested that the decision be reconsidered, but the Japanese officials said that it would be impossible, owing to thedomestic league schedule. |
CHINA−What shall be done?
The first Chinese sports delegation to visit Japan from the Chinese mainland since 1966 appeared in Nagoya, a city in central Japan, on the occasion of the 31st World Table Tennis Championship from March 28th until April 7th. This means that the People's Republic of China has the intention of restarting its International sports activities, which were ceased during the period of the“Great Cultural Revolution” between 1968 and 1969. The Chinese participation in the table tennis championship has had influence Japanese sports circles, where many sportsmen are anxious to have friendly relations with the Chinese in a multitude of sports. They found their chance in the case of table tennis
However, in the case of football, the path will not be so smooth as in table tennis. The Chinese Table Tennis Federation has full membership of I.T.T.F. (International Table Tennis Federation), whereas the Football Federation of the People’s Republicof China withdrew as a member of FIFA in 1958. Under FIFA regulations no member association can have relations in football with a non-affiliated body.
The reason why the People’s Republic withdrew from FIFA was because Taiwan had been recognised by FIFA. The People’s Republic of China claims that only one organisation should represent football in China and that the People's organisation is the true representative of Chinese football.
On the other hand, the Football Association in Taiwan also claims to represent the whole of China and it is still a member of FIFA. Therefore, the problem is a matter of choice between the two Chinas as to which really represents football in China. The answer is, l believe, clear. The People’s organisation has been promoting football for about twenty years in most parts of China and football has been one of the most popular sports on the mainland.
Also it should be noted that Taiwan is a part of China as a whole. Neither organisation insists on the independence of thefootballers in Taiwan, and now the footballers of a country, which has one third of the earth’s population are neglected by the International Federation. It is an unhappy situation for the most popular sport in the world and something must be done about it. |