Footballer of the Year
　Kunishige Kamamoto, star striker of Yanmar Diesel F.C. Osaka, has been selected as footballer of the year for 1971 by the vote of the Japanese football writers. This is the third time that he has received this award, having also obtained the honour in 1966 and 1968.

　One Hundred Games in the League
　Three players have recorded 100 League games without absence since the foundation of the Japanese League. They are Teruki Miyamoto and Masahiro Hamasaki of Shin Nihon Steel, and Koji Funamoto of Toyo Kogyo.

　The A.F.C. and the Korean D.P.R.
　A local junior football team has recently received an invitation from the authority of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and at the time of writing, the team is planning to make a three-week tour to the northern part of the Korean peninsula from the middle of May.
　 The Football Association of the Korean D.P.R. (North Korea) is a member association of F.I.F.A., and should therefore enjoy the full right of having relations with other member countries of F.I.F.A., according to the spirit of the F.I.F.A. statutes. Hence there should be no objections to the establishment of football relations between Japan and the Korean D.P.R.
　 Some people, however, have raised another problem, by insisting that it is difficult to have contact with footballers in the Korean D.P.R. because their association is not affiliated to the Asian Football Confederation. 　Under article 27 of the A.F.C. statutes, the affiliated associations and their clubs cannot play matches against any association or its clubs not in membership of the Confederation, without the consent f the A.F.C.'s Executive Committee.
　 This means that if the above article of the A.F.C. statutes is valid, even though it goes against the spirit of the F.I.F.A. statutes, Korean footballers living in the northern part of their peninsula will be prevented from playing matches against footballers in other countries, because the F.A. of the Korean D.P.R. is not a member of the A.F.C., despite its rights and obligations in F.I.F.A.
　To expect the consent of the A.F.C.'s Executive Committee would not be practical, since the F.A. of the Korean Republic (South) is an important member of the A.F.C., and the political situation would not allow the Committee to give its consent in such cases as mentioned above.
　 The problem will arise why the F.A. of the Korean D.P.R. cannot be a member of a recognised Confederation of F.I.F.A. The F.A. of the Korean D.P.R. should have been invited to join the Asian Football Confederation on 1958 when the F.A. of the Korean D.P.R. was affiliated to F.I.F.A., but the A.F.C. refused to allow membership, obviously for political reasons.
　At the A.F.C. congress held in Djakarta in 1962, representatives from the F.A. of the Korean D.P.R. were given the opportunity to attend the meeting as observers, but its affiliation was again refused. The A.F.C. said at that time that the matter was premature, but the refusal again seemed obviously due to political considerations.
　I believe that footballers in the northern part of the Korean peninsula should not be prevented by A.F.C. regulations from playing against footballers in other Asian countries, and F.I.F.A. should make it clear to its recognised Confederations that all Associations affiliated to F.I.F.A. may become members of the respective Confederations in their continent.

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