Japan said Tuesday it had scrapped plans to play in the prestigious Copa America football tournament after initially deciding to compete in the wake of the devastating March 11 quake and tsunami. “We are sorry to inform you that the Japanese team cannot participate in the Copa America 2011 in Argentina,” the Japanese Football Association (JFA) said in a letter to the Argentine Football Federation. “We apologise deeply.”
Japan and Mexico were invited as teams from outside South America to play in the regional tournament in July, where the Japanese had been drawn in Group A with the hosts, Bolivia and Colombia. But their attendance was cast into doubt after the huge earthquake and tsunami laid waste to much of the country’s Pacific coast.
Initially the JFA said it would send the national team in spite of the devastation, but it has struggled to convince European clubs to release their Japanese star players ahead of the start of the new season. “Under the current circumstance, we cannot form a team competitive for Copa America,” JFA President Junji Ogura told reporters in Tokyo.
“Based on the judgement, we have unfortunately decided to decline,” Ogura said. “It is extremely regretable.”
