The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com

Football News - Tickets, Slots & Lots of Money

Cash crisis in Italy.

Ticket Inquiry

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has promised that an investigation into the World Cup ticketing fiasco, which saw empty seats at most stadiums despite widespread demand, especially in Japan, would be completed by the end of September.
Both the Japanese and the Korean governments and the two nations' organizing committees blamed the FIFA-appointed ticketing agent - UK-based Byrom Consultants - for the mess, while the company and FIFA claim the Japanese and Korean authorities were late in submitting detailed seating plans for the 20 World Cup stadiums.
Blatter was full of praise for the hosts' organization of the tournament and the apparent changing of the guard in football's heirarchy. 'In 1998 we had among the last 8 teams 6 from europe and 2 from South America. But in 2002 we had 4 teams from Europe, and one of those was a new country, Turkey. The other 4 teams were all from different continents: the USA, Brazil, Senegal and Korea. That is a sign of what has been done to develop association football.'

Ogura Elected to FIFA Executive Commitee

JFA Vice-President Junji Ogura became the first Japanese to be elected to FIFA's Executive Commitee at the Asian football Confederation Congress in Kuala Lumpur on August 14. The 64 year-old received backing from South Korea, China and Hong Kong and credited the successful organization at the 2002 World Cup and Japan's good showing at the tournament for the vote. AFC General Secretary Peter Velappan praised the J.League as 'the best in Asia' and hoped it would serve as the model for the future development of the game in Asia.

Good Week For Japan Stars

The start of the new football season in Europe saw Japan's soccer exports all winning praise for their performances. Fulham's Junichi Inamoto came off the bench to score a wonder goal, reminiscent of his strike against Belgium in the World Cup, as the Premier League side drew 2-2 with Serie A Bologna in the Intertoto Cup. Inamoto also finally made his Premiership debut for his new club after spending last year on the sidelines with Arsenal in Fulham's 4-1 thrashing of Bolton Wanderers.
Feyenoord's Shinji Ono scored the only goal in his side's 1-0 defeat of Turkey's Fenerbahce in the qualifying round of the European Champions League. Reggina's new signing Shunsuke Nakamura has registered a couple of goals for his team including a 30-yard free kick in a 2-2 friendly draw against Dinamo Zagreb.
Genk's Takayuki Suzuki made his Belgian First Division debut as his new side beat Antwerp 4-2 away.
Brazilian-born Japan winger Alessandro Santos may also be joining Inamoto in the Premiership after London side Charlton Athletic expressed interest in taking the player on a one-year loan with the option of a permanent move from J.League Shimizu S-Pulse.

J2 Albirex Niigata Rides Post-World Cup Boom

J.League Division 2 side Albirex Niigata has been pulling in large crowds who have flocked to see the club play in Niigata's new World Cup stadium - the Big Swan. A crowd of 42,211 - the biggest in the J.League on the penultimate weekend of the season's First Stage - saw Albirex take on Cerezo Osaka in a top-of-the table clash. The area has no baseball club and has a strong regional identity, a factor which is also helping clubs in Sendai, Sapporo and Fukuoka to draw healthy support since the end of the World Cup.

Korea & Japan Seek Byes for 2006

Both Japan and Korea are hoping to avoid future clashes with Asian soccer minnows such as The Maldives and Nepal in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. The JFA and KFA are awaiting a decision from the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA on the matter.
It seems unlikely however that Asia will receive an extra place for the 2006 tournament, despite pressure from the AFC, and will have to make do with four automatic places plus half a slot shared with Oceania, which will receive an automatic berth for the first time in 2006.

Di Livio Loyal to Firenze

Italian World Cup player Angelo Di Livio has decided to remain in Florence with relegated Fiorentina, who have been declared bankrupt, dissolved and reformed as Florentia Viola. New owner Diego Della Valle, who took over from Vittorio Cecchi Gori, hopes to lead the new club from C2 - Italy's fourth division - back to Serie A.

INAS-FID World Football Championships 2002 - The Other World Cup

16 teams from around the world are in Japan to battle for the World Cup for players with intellectual disability organized by the International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability, which is being held under FIFA rules. Although FIFA began to recognise the tournament earlier this year, players cannot wear official uniforms or display the World Cup logo. The tournament runs from August 8-26 with the final to be held at Yokohama International Stadium.

Jubilo Clinch J.League First Stage; Songnam Chumna Lead in K.League

Jubilo Iwata won the First Stage of the J.League championship for the second consecutive year by 3 points from nearest challengers Yokohama F. Marinos after a 3-2 win away to Kashiwa Reysol.
In Korea reigning Champions Songnam Chumna lead the K.League from second placed Anyang Cheetahs, though the big news was the departure of Busan I.cons' World Cup hero Song Chong-gug to join Japan's Shinji Ono at Feyenoord in Holland.

Ronaldo

The 'will he go or will he stay' Ronaldo transfer saga has been keeping his present club Italy's Inter Milan and potential buyers Spain's Real Madrid much in the news before the start of the new Serie A and Primera Liga seasons. Praised recently by his manager, Hector Cuper, a coach with whom he is reported to get on badly, Ronaldo has been training apart from the first team and has been made available for transfer by Inter President Massimo Moratti, who wants 'a very high fee' for the World Cup's leading goalscorer. Though not turning out for Inter at the moment until his future is sorted out, Ronaldo is playing for his country and the striker's next game will be Brazil's home friendly with Paraguay in Fortaleza on August 21.

Monochrome Images from the Far East

The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives
Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com