By David Gold
April 26 – Junji Ogura, President of the Japanese Football Association, is looking for FIFA assistance through the Goal Programme to help cover reconstruction of football facilities in the country after March’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Ogura confirmed that he spoke with FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed bin Hammam, who face each other in June’s FIFA Presidential election, about the possibility of acquiring funding for the country’s J-League.
Bin Hammam is in charge of the Goal Programme, which provides FIFA member associations with help building football infrastructure.
Ogura, who sits on the FIFA Executive Committee, will be meeting Blatter next week in Paraguay to celebrate Nicolas Leoz’s 25th anniversary as President of CONMEBOL, the South American football federation.
“To repair all the stadiums and training facilities, we reckon we will need at least 40 billion yen (£3 billion/$5 billion),” Ogura said.
“If we can get even partial aid, it will be a big help.
“Last week, I went to Hong Kong where I met with Hammam, who is in charge of the Goal Programme.
“I briefed him on the latest in Japan and the costs it would take, and the information has been passed on to FIFA.
“I’ll meet with Blatter in Paraguay next week and we’ll go into details then.”
Japan may face difficulties securing funding because of its status as one of the world’s leading economic powers, whereas most countries receiving funding through the Goal Programme are comparatively poor.
“In the past, Haiti, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand have been helped after quakes and tsunamis,” said Ogura.
“They received special aid then, but Japan is widely perceived as being a rich nation so it might not be easy.
“But in Japan, most of the stadiums are owned by local Governments which, right now, are pouring all their resources into rebuilding lifelines.
“The priority is not on sports right now so FIFA might see things differently.”
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