Ogura: USA biggest threat to Japan bid
Reuters - Monday 29 November 2010, 10:53
TOKYO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The United States pose the
biggest threat to Japan's prospects of hosting the 2022 World
Cup, according to the head of the Asian country's bid committee.
South Korea, Australia and Qatar are also vying for the
hosting rights but Junji Ogura believes the real threat comes
from the U.S.
"I'd say it would be America due to the capacity of the
stadiums and the number of spectators over the course of the
tournament. That would translate into income and income is
what FIFA is hoping for," Ogura was quoted as saying by Kyodo
News.
U.S. and Japan were deemed as a medium legal risk by FIFA
in their bid evaluation report published earlier this month
while Qatar, South Korea and Australia were judged as low.
Japan were praised when they co-hosted the 2002 World Cup
with South Korea and Ogura is banking on cutting-edge
technology, including 3D telecast of matches, to tilt the
balance in his country's favour when FIFA's executive
committee members vote in Switzerland on Thursday.
"We have placed our focus on a next generation World Cup I
think the key will be how well we can explain our bid and how
much will be understood."
Should Japan's bid succeed, spectators would be able to
"hear the players breathing and feel their every heartbeat" in
images captured by 200 high-definition cameras.
"Our cutting-edge technology is not fiction and hopefully
we will be able to explain well that we can actually make it
reality," said Ogura.