Japan to bid for World Cup

The Japan Football Association have officially declared their intention to bid for the right to host the World Cup in either 2018 or 2022.

FIFA has asked their member associations to submit a letter of interest in hosting the World Cup by February 2, which the JFA have confirmed they have now done. Japan previously co-hosted the World Cup with South Korea in 2002.

“We, the Japan Football Association, express our will to bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and 2022 for the purpose of developing Japanese football and sports overall,” JFA president Motoaki Inukai said.

“We’ll become united to work together to make our bid a reality.”

The JFA will also offer the city of Tokyo their full support in their attempt to host the 2016 Olympic Summer Games.

If successful, it will mean Japan will then have a stadium that can meet the criteria laid down by FIFA to stage both the opening match and the World Cup final.

“In order to conquer our stadium problem, a successful bid to host the Tokyo Olympics is vital to us,” Inukai added.

“We’ll work together with all our might to make the bids successful,” Inukai added.

FIFA are set to decide the host countries for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups at an executive committee meeting in December 2010.