Reporter Han Bing reported that on April 4, the Chinese Football Association proposed to the East Asian Football Federation that it would abandon hosting the East Asian Cup due to the impact of the new crown epidemic. Ten days later, Kiyoko Suhara, a special director of the Japan Football Association, held an online press conference to formally consider taking over the East Asian Cup, which was scheduled to be held in China in July.
At present, EAFA has no intention of canceling the East Asian Cup for the time being, after all, compared with last year, when the epidemic situation was severe, this year's Japan-South Korea League and international competitions were successfully held.
Kiyoki Suhara said the Japan Football Association was in consultation with the East Asian Football Federation to determine the host country. Both Japan and South Korea have expressed their willingness to take over, and for now, Japan is even stronger.
As for Japan's takeover of the East Asian Cup, the Sports Edition of chosun Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo have reported that officials of the South Korean Football Association have confirmed that the East Asian Cup will be relocated, but they have not yet received any official information, nor have specific information such as the venue.
However, Sponichi revealed that whether the Japanese Football Association can host the East Asian Cup will also have to negotiate with Japanese team coach Mori Hoichi. Previously, in preparation for the World Cup in November, Mori arranged six high-quality warm-up matches, including 4 in June and 2 in September. The four matches in June are actually the resumption of the Kirin Cup, which has not been held for six years, and three high-level national teams are invited to participate, at the Sapporo Dome stadium on June 2, at the Yokohama National Stadium on June 6, at novaya Park Stadium in Kobe on June 10, and at Kitita Panasonic Stadium in Osaka on the 14th; and two warm-up matches in September will be arranged overseas, most likely in Doha, the host of the World Cup. In addition, Mori is also considering whether to add warm-up matches.
At present, two warm-up opponents have been basically determined, one is South Korea, after the two countries will hold the "Japan-South Korea World Cup 20th Anniversary Commemorative Tournament"; in addition, the Japanese Football Association has also contacted the Brazilian team. The South American World Preliminary Rounds between Brazil and Argentina will be played in Australia in June, so it is highly likely that the Brazilian Football Association will agree to this warm-up match.
Originally, the Japanese Football Association planned to find a warm-up for European teams, but june was the start of the European Nations League and could not find a suitable warm-up opponent.
In view of the fact that Morihoichi has to recruit 40 to 50 players for inspection, the main player of Japan's U21 national youth who was scheduled to participate in the East Asian Cup may be recruited, which will affect the gold content of the East Asian Cup.
According to the previous plan, Japan will send the U21 national youth team that won the Dubai Cup in March to win the Championship against Croatia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia U23 national teams to participate in the East Asian Cup, before the East Asian Cup, they will also participate in the U23 Asian Cup in June; and the Chinese Football Association intends to send the U23 national team to warm up for the Hangzhou Asian Games; South Korea, head coach Paul Bento will not choose the strongest lineup to participate, but mainly K1 League players, selecting the World Cup lineup other than European players.
It should be noted that regarding the East Asian Cup, the East Asian Football Federation has a special rule, that is, the representative teams participating in the East Asian Cup cannot play friendly matches with each other for 3 months before and after the match. South Korea's "Kyunggyong Shimbun" sports edition has said that Japan or South Korea to host the East Asian Cup, which means that the original "Japan-South Korea World Cup 20th Anniversary Commemorative Tournament" will not be held on the international competition days in June and September.
However, given that almost all of the players from both national teams playing on the international matchday in June are european players, there is a high probability that they will not participate in the East Asian Cup in July, which is not a violation of EAFA regulations. Even if it does not hold the desired event in early June, it will be completed within this year and will not affect the East Asian Cup.
With the East Asian Cup still 3 months away, the Japan Football Association has plenty of time to coordinate the fixtures and player recruitment.