Japan vows to solve World Cup problems
Japan vows to solve World Cup problems
TOKYO (AFP): Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto
yesterday pledged help to tackle "various problems" that could
threaten the joint hosting of the 2002 World Cup finals with
South Korea.
"We are bound to tackle various problems from now and we will
do our best," the premier told leaders of the Japanese World Cup
bid committee at a meeting.
Former prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa, one of the bidding
leaders, quoted Hashimoto as telling them: "Please do not
hesitate to tell us if there is anything the government can do
for its part."
Miyazawa returned yesterday with executives of the Japanese
bid committee from Zurich where the International Football
Federation (FIFA) decided the 2002 finals should go to Japan and
South Korea to halt animosity between them over their bids.
The decision has raised a host of logistical, protocol and
security questions, including sites for the final and opening and
closing ceremonies. Profit sharing, different ticket prices and
other conditions will also have to be sorted out.
Shun-ichiro Okano, vice-president of the Japanese Football
Association, said at a news conference, that it would be "a
matter of course" for Japan and South Korea get automatic berths
at the World Cup as host nations.
He added that he hoped to see the 15 Japanese cities, which
had agreed to invest billions of yen in building or renovating
soccer stadia for the World Cup, get a share of the matches.
The cities also chipped in 235 million yen (US$2.2 million)
each to the bidding committee.
At the news conference, Miyazawa said the joint-hosting
compromise "could not be called the best choice from the
standpoint of the soccer world."
He added though that "it was good that we managed to avoid an
unfavorable turn in the bilateral relations."
Mega projects
In Seoul, the South Korean government said yesterday it was
likely to spend some $2.54 billion dollars on new airports,
communications and other capital projects for the 2002 World Cup
finals.
The projection by the Construction and Transportation Ministry
included $359 million for new hotel rooms and $1.15 billion
dollars for road construction.
The ministry had forecast expenditure of $637 million to build
and revamp soccer stadiums. But the earlier figure must be
revised because of co-hosting, ministry officials said.
Despite the decision by the International Football Federation,
FIFA, to make rivals South Korea and Japan co-host the 2002
event, businesses said there would still be a World Cup sales
boom.
In a related move, a South Korean government-business team
left yesterday for Japan to survey preparations there for sales
promotion.
The 10-member team will look at how Japanese counterparts are
preparing for the boom for sporting goods, bags, accessories and
electronic products, Yonhap news agency said.
"We have sent the mission to help create measures that will
help small companies cope with the newly-emerging World Cup
market," a Trade, Industry and Energy official told Yonhap.
Delegates from both Japan and South Korea complained they had
been victims of FIFA politics in which Swedish FIFA vice-
president Lennart Johansson had triumphed over president Joao
Havelange and had sacrificed the World Cup to achieve it.
Japan had been opposed to co-hosting right up until the last
minute.
South Korean FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon hoped co-
hosting would bring about closer ties between the two countries.
"Korea and Japan are immediate neighbors, but there is an
unhappy history. There has been a lack of understanding between
us," he said.