Hosts of 2002 World Cup have work cut out for them
Hosts of 2002 World Cup have work cut out for them
TOKYO (AFP): For officials of Japan and South Korea, joint hosts of the 2002 soccer World Cup, trips between each other's capitals have become routine as they try to bridge more than the stretch of water that separates them.
"We are optimistic but it's really a big challenge," said Tadao Murata of the Japan Organizing Committee for the FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan (JAWOC), mindful of the enormous tasks to be completed by June 2002.
Some 50 people are at work full time at JAWOC's Tokyo headquarters. That will swell to 100 by April when they, along with soccer's world governing body FIFA, prepare the draws for the qualifying round.
Five contact groups have been formed by JAWOC and its South Korean counterpart, KOWOC.
They will have to tread softly, Murata acknowledged, noting: "Japan and South Korea are so different and I think more dissimilar than European countries between themselves."
Ticket pricing has to allow for the much weaker purchasing power of the Koreans as against the Japanese.
Common logos, the sharing out of match fixtures and readiness for surprise moves from North Korea during the event are other major sources of worry.
In a show of goodwill, Tokyo and Seoul decided last month to ease some visa restrictions for the finals and form twin cities of ten host cities in each country.
"Co-organizing such a big event needs very close co-operation because differences can erupt over delicate situations," said Rene-Georges Querry, who officiated at France '98.
In Tokyo to share experiences from that event, Querry said the organization of transport between venues would be a major problem.
"Crowd control is important but could be limited in view of the traditional discipline that characterizes the two countries and their distance from Europe and Latin America, the two major regions from where hooligans travel," he said.
Despite recent signs of a thaw, ties between Japan and South Korea remain stuck in deep distrust. Differences are still blocking a possible visit to Seoul by Emperor Akihito.
President Kim Dae-jung said Thursday that it would not be suitable for the visit to take place after the World Cup but the Japanese public thinks the opposite, opinion polls show.
The emperor's visit has great significance as it would be the first since a 35-year Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula ended in 1945. The period left behind scars too deep to be healed by the exchange of goodwill that followed Kim's Japan trip in October.