Saturday 04th December, 06:39 AM JST
ZURICH —
FIFA executive committee member Junji Ogura said Friday that Japan simply could not compete with the deep pockets of Russia and Qatar who were named hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups a night earlier.
On his way back from Thursday’s voting at world soccer’s governing body where Japan lost to Qatar for the 2022 hosting rights, the Japanese bid chief said the government would have to show greater support if the country is to stage the World Cup again.
Ogura revealed that Japan’s bid committee had a paltry budget of 950 million yen, which paled in comparison to that of Russia and Qatar.
‘‘They were operating out of a national budget,’’ the Japan Football Association president said of the two winners, who will both host the World Cup for the first time.
Qatar, which has never qualified for the tournament, will host the Middle East’s first World Cup.
‘‘It’s no longer become something that can be financed by a single sporting body,’’ Ogura said. ‘‘We need to analyze what the problems were, and where we lacked.’‘
Japan was eliminated in the second round of voting by the 22-member executive committee. Qatar prevailed over the United States in the fourth and final round.
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