PRESS RELEASES

JENESYS 2.0 ASEAN-Japan Football Exchange participants paid courtesy call to Prime Minister Abe

15 April 2014

    On 8 April, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a courtesy call by 22 youth participants of the ASEAN-Japan Football Exchange (U-14) from 10 ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste who were visiting Japan under JENESYS 2.0.

    At the outset, Prime Minister Abe stated that JENESYS 2.0 aimed for an active youth exchange between Japan and ASEAN, and that he was delighted to welcome the participants of ASEAN-Japan Football Exchange which he had proposed during the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit in Tokyo at the end of last year.

    Prime Minister Abe also mentioned that football was very popular in Japan, and in the J-League Mr Irfan Bachdim, who was a superstar football player in Indonesia, belonged to Ventforet Kofu and Viet Nam’s Mr Le Cong Vinh had played for the Consadole Sapporo until last year. The Prime Minister hoped that participants of the ASEAN-Japan Football Exchange would someday play an important role in the J-League or in the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.

    On behalf of the participants, Mr Kevin Wong (14) from Singapore said that the visit to Japan was an eye-opening event, and their visit to interesting places in Japan enabled participants to understand Japanese history and culture. He was particularly excited to have the opportunity to see a J-League match in a stadium, and he hoped to become a professional football player, reach the level of J-League players and to once again experience the excitement, while expressing their appreciation to Prime Minister Abe.

    The courtesy call was also attended by executives of the ASEAN Football Federation and of the football association from respective country. They hoped and encouraged the progress and success of the participants as football players.