Japan women's captain criticizes Asian soccer chiefs over venue switch

Be careful what you wish for, Ms Kumagai. Would you prefer to travel to North Korea with all the red-tape, politics, and anti-Japan feeling in the stadium? Or a neutral stadium in Saudi?

Outrageous government interference in sports. Kumagai is completely right.

The game should never have been scheduled in NK to start with.

AFC, UEFA, Comebol, etc, and the biggest of all FIFA, all a disgrace

The most important thing is for us not to let this stress us out and we must concentrate on the game," she said.

Well said.

Would you prefer to travel to North Korea with all the red-tape, politics, and anti-Japan feeling in the stadium? Or a neutral stadium in Saudi?

That’s not the essence of the players’ request. Kumagai is asking on behalf of players that the venue be set far in advance of the match and not changed last-minute. In a home-and-away system, one leg should always be in an unfriendly stadium. That’s normal. Players cope.

Changing venues a few days before the match is not normal. Saudi Arabia is how many extra hours in a plane? How many hours different in time zone? How many degrees different in the stadium? This hurts players and their preparation.

Why can’t Japan and Asia get the venue set weeks, if not months, earlier? This is a perfectly valid question. Nothing has suddenly changed in the situation with North Korea that necessitates a last-minute change. This all could and should have been settled months ago.