Asian Soccer Official Proposes Joint League of China, Japan, S. Korea

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, June 10, 2002

Asian Soccer Official Proposes Joint League of China, Japan, S. Korea

China, Japan and South Korea should form a joint league after the next World Cup finals in 2006, a top Asian soccer official proposed Sunday.

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China, Japan and South Korea should form a joint league after the next World Cup finals in 2006, a top Asian soccer official proposed Sunday.

"This would go a long way to advance soccer in the region," said Peter Velappan, the Asian Football Confederation's general secretary and head of FIFA's coordination committee for the World Cup.

Velappan said the three-nation league could consist of six teams from each country and suggested it be introduced after the next World Cup in Germany.

Although there have been proposals in the past that the three East Asian federations should cooperate more closely on the club level, this is the first time that the continent's governing soccer body has given its backing to a new league.

"This is what you need to advance in international soccer," Velappan said during a visit to the China national team's practice session in this tourist resort on South Korea's Jeju island.

"The World Cup is for hardcore professionals, who are mentally and physically hardened," he said. "This is what we need in Asia. We are too soft."

He attributed this to the low level of play in Asian national leagues, where most players are either amateurs or semiprofessionals.

Meanwhile, the champions of China, Japan and South Korea are scheduled to play in Jeju early next year in the first such tournament involving their three leagues.

Velappan said the success of the 2002 World Cup should ensure Asia receives five berths of its own at the 2006 edition in Germany. Japan and South Korea qualified as co-hosts this year, while China and Saudi Arabia advanced via regional qualifying.

A fifth Asian team, Iran, could have reached the finals but missed out after losing an intercontinental playoff to Ireland.

Velappan said at least two Asian teams should qualify for the next round of this year's tournament to avoid doubts about the quality of Asian soccer.

"Everybody knows that Asia deserves five seats. It has 3.3 billion people, its economy is growing, and soccer is advancing," he said. Television audiences for this World Cup have been in the hundreds of millions in China alone.

He said the current World Cup finals are the best organized in history and that the Japanese and South Koreans have set new standards of hospitality and efficiency.

Korean and Japanese organizers have spent more than US$13 billion on building modern new stadiums and developing infrastructure and training facilities. Construction on all 20 match venues was completed with months to spare, and there has been an oversupply of volunteers and well-drilled security staff on hand.

Source: Agencies

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