Soccer: NZF expecting Japan match to go ahead

The All Whites are set to play in Japan on March 29. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand Football (NZF) are expecting the All Whites' international soccer friendly against Japan in Tokyo on March 29 to go ahead despite the devastation caused by the 8.9-earthquake and 10-metre tsunami that submerged the country's northeast coast.

The quake struck on Friday and with officials estimating a death toll of more than 10,000 people, major sporting events in Japan were postponed over the weekend, but the Japanese football association believes two friendlies scheduled for later this month would help rally the nation.

Japan Football Association (JFA) general secretary Kozo Tashima confirmed the matches against Montenegro on March 25 at the Shizuoka Stadium, southwest of Tokyo, and New Zealand in the capital four days later, would go ahead.

"It would mean something to stage these games, more than ever," the Kyodo news agency reported Tashima saying at the JFA headquarters in Tokyo.

"We will hold it in Shizuoka of course, and I think having the game in Tokyo will really mean something. The matches are still two weeks away and we need to send a message to the rest of the world.

"The images people are seeing on CNN and what not, the world probably doesn't have an accurate view of what Tokyo is like at the moment.

"We need to inform people that Tokyo is functional, that the city is okay and order is being restored in Tokyo again.

"The entire Japanese football community needs to help the country get back on its feet again," Tashima added. "Not just soccer, but I think the whole sports world in Japan needs to step up for the nation."

A NZF spokesman today told NZPA the organisation considered the match to be "on", until further notice, though they would be closely monitoring the situation in Japan on a daily basis.

NZF chairman Frank van Hattum said he had made contact with the JFA over the weekend and been told they were keen for the match at Tokyo's National Stadium, which has been sold out, to go ahead as planned.

Tokyo had been relatively unaffected, he said, and there were suggestions the match could be used as a joint fundraiser for Japan and Christchurch, which is recovering from a deadly earthquake on February 22.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand under-17 men's team will travel to Japan tomorrow as planned for an international tournament which will take place without their Japanese counterparts.

The 16-team Sanix Cup will see the Young All Whites play six games in four days in Fukuoka, on the southern island of Kyushu, and is the first leg of an Asian tour that also takes in two games against the Qatar's Aspire Academy in Doha.

Following the earthquake and tsunami, NZF sought advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and also the tournament organisers before confirming the team's participation.

The JFA suspended the weekend's J-League fixtures and withdrew their under-17 team from the Sanix Cup.

- NZPA