Tokyo 2020 Would Top London Record, Says Ambassador

(ATR) Japan football silver medalist Homare Sawa predicts a Tokyo Olympics in 2020 would draw more spectators for women’s football than the record crowds at London 2012.

The former national team captain, who was named FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year in 2011, spoke to Around the Ringsin London at the launch of Tokyo 2020’s international campaign last week.

The IOC will meet in September in Buenos Aires to determine the host of the 2020 Games, with Istanbul and Madrid the other candidates.

Sawa won a silver medal at London 2012, losing in the final to the U.S. The attendance for the match at Wembley Stadium was 80,203, a record for a women’s football match. But Sawa says Tokyo could do better.

"I believe that the spectators will be more than it was in London," she said. "This is because Japanese people love the dynamic celebration and Tokyo is a big city so I’m sure that more spectators than in London will come to see the matches in Tokyo. Also, I will invite my friends!"

At the London Games, matches were spread around the country because of the number to be played. Sawa said that it would be good for Tokyo 2020 to do the same.

She said: "I think it’s a very good thing to have the matches not only in the capital city but in another city of Japan because it will be a real opportunity for people to see the matches and help the development of football in Japan."

Football in the Olympics has its detractors, who argue that the Games is not the pinnacle of the sport – referring to the FIFA World Cup in both the men’s and women’s game.

Unsurprisingly, Sawa supports Olympic football, saying "it can inspire kids to play in the future". She added that the fact that it has stayed in the Games and has been successful shows that fans enjoy its place on the Olympic program.

Reported by Christian Radnedge

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