Japanese visit generates Asian Cup interest

The Japan vs Socceroos World Cup Qualifier in Brisbane has helped to generate significant interest in the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015.

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the 2015 tournament took the opportunity to promote the event to the Japanese Football Association and the large visiting Japanese media contingent at a function in Brisbane today.

LOC Chief Executive Officer Michael Brown said the AFC Asian Cup would be the largest football event ever held in this country and the World Cup Qualifiers against Japan and other Asian teams would be a great chance to promote the event.

“Japan has a fantastic history in the Asian Cup, both as hosts of the event in 1992 and winning four of the past six tournaments and automatically qualified for 2015,” Mr Brown said.

“Asia is the fastest growing football market in the world and the AFC Asian Cup 2015 is expected to reach a television audience of about 2.5 billion people.

“In Japan during the last tournament there was a cumulative audience of 209 million, so we are keen to ensure people in Japan embrace the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015.

“With Japan as defending champions, we hope to see thousands of Japanese fans come to Australia to support the team and enjoy our wonderful hospitality and stunning country.

“Today we have hosted about 45 Japanese media to start to build the interest and excitement in the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 in Japan.”

Mr Brown said the Local Organising Committee was also working with Australian governments to use the Asian Cup as a vehicle to build lasting relationships with Asia to generate new business and trade opportunities.

“Japan is Australia’s second largest trading partner and seven of our top 10 trading partners are all in the AFC region,” Mr Brown said.

“So the AFC Asian Cup is a great opportunity to promote Australia and encourage tourism, business and community leaders of Asia to our shores.

“Australia has a proud history of hosting major international sporting events and our vision for the Asian Cup 2015 is to deliver a world class event that celebrates Asia’s rich football culture and leaves an enduring legacy for the game in Australia.”

The AFC Asian Cup 2015 is being jointly-funded by the Australian Government and the Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victorian governments.

Matches in the 16-nation tournament will be played in Victoria, NSW, ACT and Queensland.

The tournament is the pinnacle for the 46 nations of the AFC who represent half the world’s population and some of the most passionate football fans anywhere.

Australia were runners-up to Japan in the AFC Asian Cup 2011 played in Qatar.

•  Have a view on this story? Send us your feedback!