SportsFIFA Readies Zurich Headquarters For Olympics Football Draws

FIFA Readies Zurich Headquarters For Olympics Football Draws

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BEVERLY HILLS, March 22, (THEWILL) – The draws for the Olympic Football Tournaments will be hosted at the Home of FIFA in Zurich at 09:00 GMT as the countdown to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games picks up the pace. The enthusiasm and excitement for the iconic event remain undimmed even after postponements to get a handle of the ravages of the COVID-19.

The draws, which will reveal the identity of their opponents to 16 men’s and 12 women’s Olympic football teams, will be streamed live on the FIFA YouTube channel to allow all participants to follow proceedings from their home countries around the world. To conduct the draws will be FIFA’s Chief Women’s Football Officer, Sarai Bareman, and FIFA Director of Tournaments, Jaime Yarza.

Ahead of the date, Bareman said: “The draws for the Men’s and Women’s Olympic Football Tournaments will provide a range of feelings and emotions, as the 28 qualified teams discover their pathway to glory and gold in Tokyo.

“As the Olympic Games approach, players, coaches and officials and their preparations will take a step closer following the draws, which represent a special and exciting milestone in men’s and women’s Olympic football history.”

The Sports Director for the Tokyo 2020 Games, Mikako Kotani, added: “I am extremely thrilled that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Football Tournament draws are finally upon us – an exciting milestone in our preparations to host Olympic football once more after Tokyo 1964, as well as to welcome the women’s game to an Olympic Games in Japan for the first time.

“These extraordinary tournaments will stand out in our memories and this experience will be different from the past editions. As Tokyo 2020 Sports Director, I am so excited to welcome these tournaments to Japan and am firmly confident that they will leave everlasting memories in the hearts of Olympic fans and athletes across the globe. I wish all the teams involved the very best of luck. See you in Japan, this summer!”

Hosts Japan men’s team will be positioned as A1 in the procedure for the draw and the match schedule, while the Japanese women’s team will be drawn as E1.

The venue for the first match of the Japanese men’s team is the Tokyo Stadium. For their female compatriots, they will fight for the gold medal at the city’s iconic new Olympic Stadium, which will also be the setting for the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies of the tournament. Other stadia such as the Sapporo, Miyagi, Kashima, Saitama and Yokohama will contribute to the Olympic passion by hosting exciting games from Wednesday, July 21 to Saturday, August 7.

With two more teams remaining, there are ten teams that have already booked their slots for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. FIFA continues to monitor the situation in relation to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on football ahead of the two-legged intercontinental play-off between Cameroon and Chile, who finished second in CONMEBOL’s qualifying tournament. The play-off is scheduled to take place in Turkey on April 10 and 13. Korea Republic and China PR will also play off over two legs in April to determine the last representative from Asia.

On the men’s side, 14 teams have already qualified for the Olympic Football Tournament, with the final two places up for grabs at the Concacaf qualifying tournament taking place in Guadalajara, Mexico, from March 18 to 30.

The hosts have a great footballing tradition and have hosted several major international tournaments in the past such as the 2002 FIFA World Cup™, and multiple FIFA Club World Cups, including the next edition planned to be held in December this year.

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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

Jude Obafemi, THEWILLhttps://thewillnews.com
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

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