JFA President Junji Ogura met with the head of the South American confederation, Nicolas Leoz, in Asunción on Monday.
HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Japanese Federation calls for national team to be withdrawn from South American tournament
- Samurai Blue had been invited as a guest entry team with Mexico
- JFA President visits Paraguay for talks with CONMEBOL officials
- The Japanese national championship has been suspended since last month’s natural disasters.
(CNN) — Japan’s national soccer team will not participate in the prestigious Copa America tournament in July due to the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the island last month.
The 2011 Asian Cup champions were one of two countries invited to participate as guests in the 12-team South American event, which will be held in Argentina from July 1-24.
But the president of the Japanese Football Federation, Junji Ogura, traveled to Paraguay on Monday to meet his South American counterparts and ask that the “Samurai Blue” not participate alongside Mexico.
“He thinks the priority now is to try to save lives and rebuild,” CONMEBOL spokesman Nestor Benitez said on Monday.
“On top of that, the Japanese federation has organizational problems due to infrastructure damage.”
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Japan’s J-League has been suspended for five rounds until April 23 to save electricity used to stage night matches, as the country tries to rebuild with more than 11,000 people killed and more than 15,000 missing – while problems remain at a crippled nuclear power plant.
Japan was scheduled to play in Group A with Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia, but a team from the Central American region such as Honduras or Costa Rica could now be invited.
“We first asked to be invited to the South American championship. So it’s not up to us to make a unilateral decision,” Ogura told Japanese media before heading to Asuncion.
The Mexican team has participated regularly in the Copa since 1993, while the United States has been invited to participate three times.
