President Chung, who has had a large role to play in the successful staging of the three-week event as Chairman of the Committee for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, was joined by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) Junji Ogura and Tatjana Haenni, FIFA Head of the Women’s Competitions.
The conference was held at the Conrad Hotel in Tokyo on Friday and offered those gathered their last chance to hear from the assembled dignitaries before the tournament wraps up in fitting fashion today with the match for third and final.
Both games will take place at Tokyo’s National Stadium and will see Nigeria fight it out with hosts Japan for the bronze before USA and Germany do battle for the main prize.
Many aspects of the development of women’s football were discussed at yesterday’s press conference and President Chung took the time to offer his gratitude to those who have worked so hard to make the tournament a success.
“I have to congratulate the LOC and the Japan Football Association for their commitment which has delivered a highly-successful tournament,” he said.
“I can testify that FIFA and the LOC have enjoyed an excellent co-operation. I have visited all the venues and I can say that all stadiums and facilities were in excellent condition. It is always wonderful to organise a tournament in Japan with so much local knowledge and professionalism.”
The memorable event may be just about to wrap up but President Chung believes it will leave a lasting impact.
“We are hopeful that the tournament will bring more girls to football,” he said.
“Japan has confirmed its status in women’s football in Asia and we trust tournaments such as this will inspire the next generation. This tournament is also a positive move for FIFA as it underlines our solidarity towards Japan’s football family and is a way of inspiring people affected by last year’s earthquake and tsunami and to leave a legacy in the country.”
Oceania representatives New Zealand performed strongly in the group stages with a pair of good results, 2-1 over Switzerland and 2-2 against Japan, but exited the tournament after losing 4-0 to Mexico.

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