TOKYO (AP) — The best place to develop Japanese talent is in the English Premier League, the president of the Japan Football Association told continental soccer delegates Wednesday.
Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, speaking at an Asian Football Confederation seminar and regional meeting, emphasized the goal of getting more Japanese players to sign in Europe — particularly England.
“We have nine players who are playing for Premier League clubs and also eight players are playing for second division clubs,” he told the seminar. “But still, we would like to send more players to the English Premier League because the league offers the players the best environment to become top-class players. That’s our aim.”
Miyamoto was a defender and led Japan's 2002 and 2006 World Cup teams.
Infantino traveling in the region
Gianni Infantino, the president of soccer's global governing body FIFA, is seeking his fourth term and has been globetrotting in search of votes from FIFA’s 211 member federations.
The AFC has 47 member associations that could provide crucial swing votes with Europe largely opposing Infantino and Africa offering wide support.
Infantino is traveling in Asia and was expected to appear at the two-day meeting of the AFC in Tokyo. FIFA has promoted his presence recently in Bhutan and Bangladesh, small federations that each have one vote — the same as powerful soccer nations such as Spain or France.
The FIFA presidential election is in March and opposition candidates have until Nov. 18 to declare. None has so far filed.
Infantino apologized last week in Zurich, Switzerland, to FIFA’s 37-member ruling council — which he chairs — for “mistakes’ he made in assembling a now-scrapped $4.2 billion sell-off plan for the World Cup.
An Associated Press tally shows 87 of the 211 federations have indicated support for Infantino — either in individual comments or by endorsing statements of support by their regional confederations. Asia appears split. Qatar, the host of the 2022 World Cup, has come out in support of Infantino and Jordan has declared its opposition.
The AFC meetings are largely closed to the media. The conference is being shown on the AFC's YouTube channel.
Infantino is not listed among the official speakers at the summit. The closing address Thursday is by AFC president, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa.
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