World Cup 2002 - Sven Screens England
by R. Sanborn Brown
Sven: No Open Practice Days
Residents
of Awajishima, Japan, where England will have its training camp for the
World Cup, have reacted with shock and disappointment to the possibility
that there will be no practice sessions open to the public, according
to a report in the Asahi Shinbun. Officials and residents alike
assumed that they would be able to watch the team practice. During a late
March visit by Coach Sven Goran Eriksson to the site, however, these hopes
were effectively dashed. Goran Eriksson, moreover, requested that a "three
meter high screen" be installed along the perimeter of the fence
that surrounds the ground. Worse still, the Japanese organizing committee
(JAWOC) recently informed Awajishima that "it will be very difficult
for persons not connected with the England team or coaching and training
staff to enter the training ground."
Awajishima officials had "of course" planned on a "visitors day." The local town, which spent some US$77,000 in constructing the training facility, can now only wonder as one official did: "(If we can't even see them) Local residents will want to know why the hell we went to all the trouble of getting England to train here in the first place?!"
In
contrast, many other nations are welcoming local fans with open arms.
Facilities for Denmark, which will be staying in nearby Wakayama Prefecture,
are visible in part from nearby homes. When local officials asked the
team if they would like a temporary screen so that they could not be watched
during practice, the Danes replied that it wasn't necessary. Of the
Danish officials, one local bureaucrat had nothing but praise: "They
have been real gentlemen, which has helped us out in so many ways."
In Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, which will be hosting the Tunisian squad, officials noted that there is already a high wall surrounding the practice field. "We don't anticipate any problems with people watching the team, and to date the Tunisians have not pressed us with any special requests," said one official.
Both the Irish and Slovenian sides have also agreed to have open practice sessions. In Mikuni, Fukui Prefecture, which will be hosting Mexico, practices will be open to the public, but a fee will be charged to offset expenses.
First Official Hooligan of FIFA 2002 World Cup
A British male traveling from Fukuoka, Japan, to Busan, South Korea, on April 19th was detained by Korean immigration officials on suspicion of being a hooligan. The forty-two year-old businessman's name appeared on a list of known hooligans, and he was thus initially denied entry into South Korea. The man was on business in Japan, and, following a request from a Korean company to run quality inspection tests on a product, made his way to Busan.
However, when immigration officials heard why the man was attempting to enter the South Korea—that he had been invited by a local company and had done identical work in Japan—he was released after an hour and allowed into the country.
Official Licensed Product
Mark
your calendar. The Asahi Shinbun, which enjoys a daily readership
of some eight million, recently featured Japan coach Philippe Troussier
in an ad touting "Songs of Korea/Japan," which is the "2002
FIFA World Cup Official Album." Troussier is photographed in black-and-white
in what appears to be a locker room replete with a white board and ferro-concrete
wall behind him, a sprinkler system poised above his tousled hair. Monsieur
Troussier's shirtsleeves are rolled up and he is yelling: "You
decided without consulting me?!" In his left hand he has an Adidas
Fevernova, the official ball of the World Cup, and in his right hand,
the CD. Both products are in full color. Representing Japan musically
will be "B'z," "Tube," Ritsumeikan University's
Mai Kuraki, and others; Korean artists will include Kim Jo Han, Park Jin
Young, "and more." The album goes on sale on May 29th.
Mark your Calendar, Part II: Ayumi Hamasaki Summer Tour
The summer tour schedule for Japan's reigning pop diva Ayumi Hamasaki was announced on April 28th. The sports tabloid Sports Nippon reported that the "Ayumi Hamasaki: Open Air Live 2002" tour will include outdoor shows to be held on June 29th and June 30th on a specially-constructed stage in Tokyo's trendy Odaiba waterfront area, at which organizers expect some 40,000 hyperventilating adolescents in attendance. Hamasaki will be, in other words, performing at the exact same time as the World Cup's third place match in South Korea and, on the 30th, the Final itself in nearby Yokohama. In an article entitled "Summer Festival: Don't lose to the World Cup, Ayu!," the eagerness of the "Queen of Japan" to perform on the same day as the Final was judged "audacious." Hamasaki is, moreover, ready to "give her all to get the house rocking hard enough not to lose out to the World Cup."
That
phrase—"don't lose to the World Cup"—appears
four times in the article. The headline, to the letter, uses identical
phrasing and verb forms employed in April headlines at the kickoff the
Japanese baseball season. The timing of the dates almost makes one suspect
baseball's vested interests are working behind the scenes with Hamasaki's
producers.