The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
Jan 2002
The South Korean government announced it would hold 100,000 gas masks ready for use by army reservists living near its 10 World Cup venues as a safety measure against possible biochemical terrorism.
The Korean and Japanese Organizing Committees will also check the food of the competing teams for the presence of anthrax.
Extra guards and immigration officials will be stationed at four of Japan's main airports – Fukuoka, Kansai, Nagoya and Narita – to prevent potential terrorists and hooligans from entering the country.
The Korean central bank announced that the World Cup would help the economy grow by an extra 0.11 % in fiscal 2002. Bank officials expect foreign tourists to spend around US$740m during the event. The World Cup as a whole created approximately 350,000 new jobs in Korea, which spent around US$2 billion on its 10 new stadiums. Overall growth for 2002 is expected to be between 4-5%. Japan spent in excess of US$3.5 billion on its stadium infrastructure but the overall economy continues to shrink.
The Japan World Cup Organizing Committee (JAWOC) has received complaints from disgruntled fans angry at the changes made to the Group F schedule, which means they are now double-booked. JAWOC has refused to exchange the tickets.
The Japanese authorities plan to increase the number of institutions that can exchange Korean won by allowing South Korean banks with branches in Japan to sell the currency to Japanese banks and airport bureau de change.
South Korea has strictly controlled the outflow of won since the 1997 Asian currency crisis. Korean banks have returned to profitability in 2002 whereas financial institutions in Japan are straining under debts estimated at US$1,500 billion.
The combined budget for the co-hosts' organizing committees exceeds US$800m, more than double the figure for the France '98 committee.
England became the first team to plan training camps in both host nations when the FA announced that the national team would train in Seogwipo on Jeju island from May 18-25 before moving to Awaji Island, near Kobe in Japan. A British Embassy spokesperson in Seoul said the decision would "take some of the pressure off them from supporters waiting in Japan." England are lining up a warm-up friendly with South Korea in Seogwipo before leaving for Japan.
Croatia will set up their camp in the resort town of Tokamachi in Niigata where they open their campaign against Mexico in Group G.
Schools in the UK are considering delaying the start times of exams to allow pupils to watch the national team in action. Union bosses have also called for employees to be given time off to watch the games.
Scotland's Hugh Dallas and England's Graham Poll and are among the group of 72 referees and assistant referees who have been selected to officiate at the 2002 World Cup. The men in black will be directed by FIFA to be particularly strict on diving, shirt-pulling and the tackle from behind. See the Football section for a full list of match officials.
The former Cerezo Osaka player has returned to Japan early. He had a season-long loan contract with Bolton Wanderers.
In a mutual agreement, the 25 year-old, who arrived at the Reebok Stadium in the summer of 2001 from J-League team Cerezo Osaka, returned home to try for a regular first-team place.
Bolton manager Sam Allardyce said: "Unfortunately Aki was unable to make an impression on our first-team and we've agreed to let him return to Japan. With the World Cup coming up he needs regular first-team football."
The municipal authorities in the Korean capital have been making the right noises about cleaning up the capital before the May 31st kick-off. The city council plans to produce a green map and promote eco-friendly accommodation and transportation. Seoul stadium itself is part of a larger project to transform a former landfill site near the Han River.
Some seats at Yokohama International Stadium, the venue for the 2002 World Cup final have been enlarged to accommodate the larger foreign posteriors of visiting dignitaries.
The Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company bought 6.4 million shares,
amounting to a 5.3% stake, in Juventus FC when the Turin organization
was floated on the Milan stock exchange last month.
FIAT car moguls, the Agnelli family, still hold nearly 60% of the giant
Italian club.
The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives
Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
Soccerphile Ltd - All Rights Reserved