Asian champions Japan on Monday withdrew from the Copa America after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) spokesman Nestor Benitez said.
Japan Football Association (JFA) president Junji Ogura had earlier traveled to CONMEBOL’s Paraguayan headquarters to update the confederation on the situation with the quake and tsunami having halted action in the domestic J-League, creating a fixture backlog now set to be resolved in July.
“Our priority is to save lives and rebuild our nation. We regret we cannot participate at the Copa America,” said Ogura, who was due later to convey Japan’s decision likewise to the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Argentina being the host nation of this year’s Copa from July 1 to July 24.
Amid unconfirmed media reports that world champions Spain might be invited to step into the breach, Ogura told CONMEBOL president Nicolas Leoz that Japanese soccer was “facing an unprecedented crisis” after a catastrophe that has left the country reeling.
He added that the JFA had intended to suspend the J-League during the Copa America, but “now we have to use this period to finish our domestic championship as the Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup and the 2012 London Olympics are approaching.”
Twelve teams had been scheduled to take part in the continental showpiece with Mexico joining the Japanese as guests.
The Mexicans have joined the event on a number of occasions, while the Japanese guested in 1999, exiting in the group phase.
Some Latin American media speculated following Japan’s withdrawal that AFA president Julio Grondona, who is a FIFA vice-president, had begun negotiations designed to persuade Spain to become the first European side to play the tournament, the world’s oldest international football event first staged in 1916.
Costa Rican Football Federation president Eduardo Li indicated there was “a possibility” his country “might be invited to take part,” according to a report in La Nacion newspaper, although they are also playing in the Central American Copa de Oro across most of June.
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