At an emergency meeting held from 9 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 May, with Shun-ichiro Okano, President of EAFF, the Mayor of Yokohama, Mr. Hiroshi Nakata formally submitted a request for the postponement of the East Asian Football Championship 2003 Final Competition, which is scheduled to be held at the International Stadium Yokohama from 28 May to 3 June.
2. How the Decision Was Reached to Accept the Request for Postponement
In the morning of 15 May, representatives of EAFF, President Okano and General Secretary Okada met with the President of the host association, Mr. Saburo Kawabuchi, and JFA executives for an emergency meeting to discuss the request for postponement submitted by Mayor Nakata. In view of the difficulty of putting into motion an alternative solution for holding the competition within an extremely short time frame of two weeks, and in consideration of the situation with which the Mayor is faced, it was agreed in consultation with JFA that the request for postponement should be accepted.
3. Measures So Far Taken by EAFF and JFA
Under the full cooperation of Dr. Haruhiko Aoki, Chairman of the JFA Sports Medical Committee, every possible measure meeting the current standards of Japan has been taken, including the production of a manual and preparation of specific measures to be followed by the players, officials and media of the participating associations, and in collaboration with the City of Yokohama, preparations were thorough and on-time. Furthermore, there has been absolutely no indication to this date of any supporters planning to travel to Japan from China PR or Hong Kong-China for the competition. The participating associations, especially China PR and Hong Kong-China, have been taking all necessary actions and more to prepare for their participation in the competition, acting fully in line with the strict measures against SARS requested by EAFF.
4. Future Course
The request for postponement came with only two weeks until the opening of the competition and in view of the difficulty of securing an alternative venue, EAFF and JFA, Host Association, consequently concluded that there was no other choice but to accept the request for postponement. The future course of action shall be determined after discussions among the participating associations and the executive members of EAFF. While the SARS situation will be monitored on a daily basis, we hope to summon such a meeting at the earliest possible date. We would like to note that the circumstances and the postponement have already been communicated to the Football Associations of China PR, Hong Kong-China and Korea Rep. via telephone, who have kindly accepted the decision of EAFF.
Shun-ichiro Okano
President
East Asian Football Federation
