On the evening of January 7, the Japan Football Association announced that due to the epidemic and the epidemic prevention and control measures taken by the Japanese government, the association decided to cancel the international warm-up match between Japan and Uzbekistan that was scheduled to be held at the Saitama 2002 World Cup Stadium on January 21. However, Japan's training camp this month and two round-of-12 matches, including China and Japan, will be held as scheduled.
In order to prepare for the two round-12 matches at home with China and Saudi Arabia on January 27 and February 1, Japan plans to regroup on January 17 and play an international warm-up match with Uzbekistan at home on January 21.
The Japanese team originally planned to announce the lineup for matches with China and Saudi Arabia after the match, and recalled the players who played for European clubs.
However, due to the impact of the epidemic, Japan introduced stricter restrictions on the entry of foreigners at the end of last year. The Japan Football Association was refused when it applied to the Japanese government to go through the entry procedures for members of the Uzbekistan team. It is reported that Japan has previously banned the entry of foreign newcomers introduced by Japanese professional clubs. In this case, the Japan Football Association can only cancel this warm-up match.
Kiyoshi Yonahara, special director of the Japan Football Association, said at the online press conference on the evening of the 7th: "The cancellation of the warm-up match will not affect the normal training of the national team, which will start on January 17 and end on January 21." This is mainly because it is currently in the league break period, and players from japanese domestic clubs need to adjust their status through intensive training. In addition, the Japanese government made an exception to allow matches against China and Saudi Arabia, which were scheduled to take place at the Saitama World Cup Stadium on January 27 and February 1, as the government also considered that if the match was not scheduled for this period, it would be difficult to find a suitable time. ”
According to reports, for the sake of epidemic prevention, the Japanese Football Association has asked the Chinese team and the Saudi team to reduce the number of participating delegations.
Text/Beiqing Sports Xiao Zhao