Japan to go ahead with World Cup bids

TOKYO (AP) -Japan will go ahead with bids to host soccer's World Cup in either 2018 or 2022 despite Tokyo's failure to win the right to host the 2016 Olympics, Japan Football Association officials said Thursday.

JFA president Motoaki Inukai initially said Japan's bid would hinge on the success of Tokyo's bid. Last Friday, the International Olympic Committee voted to award the games to Rio de Janeiro.

Japan was hoping to hold the World Cup final at a proposed 100,000-seat Olympic stadium on Tokyo's waterfront.

But FIFA president Sepp Blatter gave Japan's bid hopes a boost last week when he said that Yokohama's Nissan Stadium could host a World Cup final despite its capacity being 72,000 - 8,000 less than FIFA's stated minimum for a World Cup final.

Japan co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with South Korea, and the final was at Nissan Stadium.

FIFA will decide the 2018 and 2022 hosts in December 2010.

The United States and England are also bidding for either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup along with Australia, Russia, Indonesia, plus joint bids from Belgium and the Netherlands and Spain and Portugal. Qatar and South Korea have applied only for the 2022 tournament.

Next year's World Cup is in South Africa, and the 2014 tournament is scheduled for Brazil.