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Japanese pinning hopes on Zico
TOKYO. May 23 : is Imping Brazilian talent BSj 1 and its first m J professional league wifi propel
It on to the world soccer stage lo land the glittering prize of hosting the 2002 World Cup, reports Reuter.
On April -30. FIFA, world soccer's governing body, announced the Japanese Football Association (JFA) had bld formally to host the 2002 com- ■ petition which FIFA want to hold In Asia
There is no question Japan luis the stadiums and facilities for the worlxfs biggest sporting event, the problem is the quality and popularity of soccer in Japan wlierr It trails far behind baseball, basketbull, golf. «umo wresting and tennis.
Go to a public park and you will find dozens of baseball games with hundreds of youngsters dressed In smart team uniforms — but few playing sxccer.
Sport on television means dally baseball games, golf tour naments and Borts Backer against Stefan Edberg.
The last time the national soccer team succeeded tn world competition was 1968. wfien they reax herd the sernifl nals in the Mexico City Olympics since then, their reexird lias been pour, with Iran and South Korea the
They fulled lo reach the World Cup finals tn Italy fast year, where Asia was re pre M-nted by South Korea and United Arab Emirates
Japan s bid for the 2002 World Cup 1* the boldest mure to pull the game of the xiol drums in ;Kldllk>n in 1993 the
JFA will launch the country's first professional league.
The JFA wants 10 teams of company amateurs to become full fledged professional outfits.
Kazuki Sasaki chief secretary of the professional league arrangement committee bemoans the present state of the game.
"Crowds aren't increasing and the standard of play isn't improving, he says ihc game badly needs a boosts."
One problem, he says. Is the lack of a system to develop young players a condition for clubs Joining the new league la that they set up junior learns to nurture up and coming talent.
Despite the popularity of soccer with children, base baII is the main professional sports and talented youngsters turn to that when they reach high-
school.
The other major condition is that, while teams must be franchised to a company to provide financial support, they ' should represent localities and not companies.
Sasaki says this insistence has caused reluctance on the part of potential sponsors., who think they might not gel their money's worth tn publicity.
Sumitomo Metal Industries has a team playing In the pre sent amateur Japan Soccer league But when it joins the professional league. Sumitomo Metals FC will become Kashima FC.
Earlier this month a meagre crowd of 1.500 employees and relatives watched the side play Nippon Telegraph and Telephone at the Sumitomo ground In Kashima. But the Sumitomo manager hopes that in a few years his team will be playing in nationally televised games with up to 10 times that number of spectators.
Although languishing in fourth place of Division Two at the end of the 1990-91 season. Sumitomo has been chosen as one of the lucky 10 teams to form the new professional league.
The league selected us because it's just the sort of area where the kids could benefit from having a top football team locally." says team manager Katsuya Hirano.
Kashima. 100 kms (60 miles) east of Tokyo. Is a gloomy industrial town dominated by factories belonging to the Sumitomo Metals company.
Organisers say the 15,000-seat stadium to be build for the team will also be used for concerns and movies, to provide funds before soccer starts bringing in enough money by itself, i-ong term success hinges on television.
"If we can gel TV companies and advertisers Interested. the game will grow and grow. Sasaki says "But first we need to get thu public enthusiastic by giving them entertaining football."
This means importing foreign talent, mainly from Brazil.
"Without Brazilians to give the games a boost. It won't take off as entertainment." says SsMia Surr^tomo Metals already han three Brasilian players and han also signed star forward Elco. 38. who played in three World Cup. for Brazil.
But officials admit It will be nutiy years before Kashima be u.nn as familiar to football fans as Uvcrpoo) or AC Milan.