Events

Also in attendance were Junji Ogura, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, and Tatjana Haenni, FIFA Head of the Women’s Competitions. Here’s what they had to say about the tournament.
David Chung, Chairman of the Committee for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and FIFA Vice-President
On preparations in Japan
We are ready for kick off and I would like to take this opportunity to firstly thank the JFA and the LOC for the excellent work and preparations. Japan is very experienced with such organisation especially with the FIFA Club World Cups and the 2002 FIFA World Cup™. We are all confident that once again we will enjoy a great tournament thanks to the professionalism of Japanese football.
Hopes for the tournament’s legacy
We are hopeful that the tournament will bring more girls to football. 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.
Junji Ogura, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee
On Japan’s desire and aims for hosting the tournament
Since Japan’s Women’s World Cup win, attention to women’s football in Japan has increased, and now of course the Nadeshiko were successful again in London recently. We hope this tournament will be successful so many people can understand and enjoy women’s football.
On aims for crowd numbers
We are targeting 100,000 spectators as the first goal but if we can achieve 200,000 that would be really good.
Tatjana Haenni, FIFA Head of the Women’s Competitions
On Japan’s assistance assuming hosting of the tournament
We would like to thank Japanese football for taking on this event only in December and we are very confident this will be an excellent tournament.
On legacy events during the tournament
It is really important to leave a legacy in the host country and for women’s football around the world. There are a number of different events around the country related to the tournament aimed at attracting young girls to play football and also, of course, to increase the quality. There are up to 20 festivals with up to 500 girls participating and I think that is a great initiative by FIFA and the JFA.
Story courtesy of FIFA.com.
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