By David Gold
December 20 – Japan is set to host the FIFA 2012 Women’s under-20 World Cup after Uzbekistan was stripped of the right to stage the event.
Following an inspection, FIFA thanked Uzbekistan for their efforts and commitment and pledged to organise another event there the future.
An anonymous official from the Uzbekistan Football Federation was quoted as claiming that they had not been officially told of FIFA’s decision.
The decision was made at FIFA’s Executive Board meeting last week in Tokyo, and is a huge boost to Japan, which was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March.
Their female footballers went on to win the World Cup in May in a thrilling final against the United States.
The FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, recently indicated that Japan should host the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
Japan has previously co-hosted the World Cup with South Korea in 2002 and, upon receipt of Government guarantees, FIFA will confirm their hosting of next year’s under-20 World Cup.
The 16 team competition is due to run from August 18 to September 8.
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