Japan’s proposed new national stadium, which is set to form the centerpiece for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, has also been selected to host the final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
At a news conference in Dublin on Monday, World Rugby officials revealed the 12 cities that had been selected to host matches at the first Rugby World Cup in Asia, the sport’s biggest emerging market.
The 80,000-seat National Stadium in Tokyo, which is still to be constructed, is scheduled to stage the opening match on Sept. 6, as well as the final on Oct. 20, in what would double as a dress rehearsal for the Olympics the following year.
Photo: AFP
“This is an important milestone for the tournament,” Rugby World Cup chairman Bernard Lapasset said. “Now we know exactly where the matches will be staged in Japan and, more importantly, the people of those cities and fans around the world can start planning for the big event.”
The International Stadium in Yokohama, which hosted soccer’s 2002 FIFA World Cup final between Brazil and Germany, also made the shortlist.
The other 10 were: Sapporo Dome (Sapporo), Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium (Kamaishi), Kumagaya Rugby Ground (Kumagaya), Ogasayama Sports Park Ecopa Stadium (Shizuoka Prefecture), Toyota Stadium (Aichi Prefecture), Hanazono Rugby Stadium (Osaka), Kobe City Misaki Park Stadium (Kobe), Hakatanomori Football Stadium (Fukuoka), Kumamoto Prefectural Athletic Stadium (Kumamoto) and Oita Stadium (Oita Prefecture).
World Rugby officials said the venues had been chosen across the length and breadth of Japan to give as many locals as possible the chance to see matches live, with venues varying in capacity size from 15,000 to 80,000.
The successful cities, chosen from 15 candidates, included Kamaishi, a small city on the Pacific coast that was badly damaged by the 2011 tsunami.
Residents from the city gathered at a hotel to watch Monday’s live televised announcement with tournament executive Akira Shimazu telling the NHK national broadcaster: “I hope this will be even a little useful in helping the people who have suffered this huge tragedy recover.”
Japan was awarded the Rugby World Cup in 2009 after the sport’s officials, who had been criticized for rotating rugby’s biggest spectacle amongst the game’s traditional powers, voted to go to a developing market.
“It will be a wonderful tournament and as it’s the first time the Rugby World Cup will take place in Asia, it will be an important milestone for us as we continue to make good on our commitment to grow the global game,” Lapasset said.
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