The final stage of the Asian qualifiers for the women's football competition at the Paris Olympics will be played at the end of this month. However, the match between the Japanese women's football team and the North Korean women's football team may be affected by objective factors and forced to adjust. At present, the AFC is still actively communicating with all parties, including the DPRK Football Association, on this matter.
According to the rules of the competition, the final stage of the women's football Asian zone of the Paris Olympic preliminary round will be played in a home-and-away format. According to the calendar, the Japanese women's football team will play North Korea away on February 24, and then return to the home court on the 28th to play the second leg against the opponent. According to information released by the AFC on December 30 last year, the North Korean Football Association arranged the first leg of the match between the two teams to be played at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea.
On February 8, the Japan Football Association announced the list of players for the Japanese women's football team to participate in this stage of the competition. However, Norio Sasaki, the head of the women's department of the association and who led the Japanese women's football team to win the 2011 Women's World Cup, publicly said that the competition is facing great difficulties at this stage. Due to other factors such as flights and match operations, the Japanese women's football team has not yet confirmed the schedule to participate in North Korea. Even if the team arrives in Pyongyang, it may be affected by objective factors, and there is no guarantee that the second leg between the two sides will go ahead as scheduled.
It is understood that the AFC has recently maintained contact with the DPRK Football Association. It is reported that the AFC wants to adjust the match on the 24th to a neutral venue. Combined with the experience of the Japanese men's football team going to North Korea to play in 2011, the Japanese Football Association could have considered arranging for the Japanese women's football team to go to China first and then transfer to Pyongyang, North Korea. However, according to Sasaki Teruo, everything is full of uncertainty at the moment. The Japanese Football Association can only wait for the results of the communication between the AFC and the North Korean Football Association.
Text: Beijing Youth Daily reporter Xiao Yun.
Edited by Wang Haozhou.