FIFA says no change in W. Cup name order

FIFA says no change in W. Cup name order

SEOUL (AP): FIFA, world soccer's governing body, has ruled against Japan's move to put its name ahead of co-host South Korea's on 2002 World Cup tickets to be sold to Japanese spectators, officials said Saturday.

FIFA secretary general Michel Zen-Ruffinen sent a letter to the South Korean and Japanese organizing committees Friday, trying to put an end to the dispute between the two co-hosts, said the South Korean committee in a news release.

"The name order in the official title for the 2002 World Cup finals must be Korea/Japan in all occasions. This principle applies to all printed materials as well," the news release quoted Zen-Ruffinen as saying.

Japan and South Korea, two historical rivals in Northeast Asia, will co-host international soccer's premier event in 2002.

Under the complex terms of the unprecedented co-hosting arrangement, the two countries agreed in 1996 that the official title for the event should be "2002 FIFA World Cup KoreaJapan." In return, Japan will host the final match in Yokohama.

The order of the countries' names carried a lot of pride for South Koreans, who still harbor deep feelings about Japan's past colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

But on Jan. 5, Yasuhiko Endo, secretary general of Japan's organizing committee, informed South Korea that Japan planned to reverse the name order in tickets to be sold in Japan.

South Korea accused Japan of violating an agreement and asked FIFA to rule on the controversy. The Japan Soccer Association said Tuesday that it would accept FIFA's decision.