JFA, J.League and four clubs made entry to ACL Champions League 2015 (ACL) joined the ACL entry club meeting held on Wednesday 14 January at JFA House. They went through the fixtures and the ACL support project and raised morale for respectively aiming for the champions before it starts on Tuesday 24 February.

Gamba Osaka, Kashima Antlers and Urawa Reds earned berth in the ACL this season. And Kashiwa Reysol is going to launch their ACL campaign in playoff starting on Tuesday 17 February.

Participants Comments

DAINI Kuniya, JFA President
As club team in Japan has not clinched the ACL title since Gamba Osaka in 2008, JFA launched support project in human resources and financial aid. But the thing is it did not go as expected successfully competing in the world arena. It is necessary to change the notion toward the ACL as well as about fixture. I do believe an ultimate goal of J.League club team is to win FIFA Club World Cup. The ACL is the path which leads you to reaching that goal and everyone should take it seriously. This notion is something clubs, players, coaches and supporters should share and have a common understanding. I am going to make every effort with everyone to let everyone aware of these are significant games. In addition to various support, JFA is committed to provide you with a new pack of financial aid which is totally different scheme from previous years.

MURAI Mitsuru, J.League Chairman (ACL Support Project Leader)
Having held a series of discussion about ACL and receiving president Daini’s instructive and encouraging words, I would like to produce positive results by no means. I am pretty sure I have taken every possible measure of the support projects. Not only giving financial aid, scouting and human resources support, J.League fixtures was adjusted for all the clubs to play in the level playing field, no matter if the club team is in the ACL or not. I have made an extra consideration to the fixture because I believe this is not the championship just for four clubs appear in the ACL but equally relevant to all the J1 clubs for competing as the whole J.League. I want all the four clubs to end the championship with good result by extracting all they have. We are here to give you all the support we have for the AFC Champions League.

SUZUKI Mitsuru, Kashima Antlers President
I am pleased to be eligible to play in the ACL after four years and I realized the responsibility of representing J.League. Our previous experience in the ACL suggests we had a difficult game for physically, height and we added players who might be able to fill those gaps upon earning the ACL berth.　I was involved in fixture adjustment and it was really complicated project. In the end, honestly speaking you might as well say “J.League, really came up with good scheme.” Financial aid and human resource support for club team is totally different from when we participated in the ACL four years ago. It is up to club teams to generate positive results. Holding a firm determination, I am committed to battle to win the championship as we representing J.League.

FUCHITA Keizo, President of Urawa Reds
I am really grateful to JFA and J.League for giving us support in terms of financial aid, human resource, especially big considerations on fixtures which have an impact on every club. We started making a simulation for participating in the ACL and enhanced the team in the perspective of both quality and quantity. So far I believe we have done as much as we could. Having a track record for clinching the ACL title in 2007, participated for three times and entry to FCWC (The FIFA Club World Cup), I want to beat the other side and advance to the next stage. I realize the importance of J.League matches. As we made enhancement to the team, I assume we are the squad capable of winning all the way for reaching the top.

HAGIWARA Yasushi, President of Kashiwa Reysol
Kashiwa Reysol only got 0.5 slot out of 3.5 slots. I am going to make every effort to turn 0.5 to 1. We decided not to hold pre-season match called “Chiba Bank Cup” which had been held for 20 years and this will help let us focus on playoff on 17 February.　We participated in the FCWC 2011 (host country slot), the ACL 2012 and 2013. We took on South American club in Suruga Bank Championship last year. Leveraging these international match experiences, I hope to win the games with a new Kashiwa Reysol football and produce better results than previous championships.

NORO Teruhisa, President of Gamba Osaka
Gamba Osaka had participated in the ACL for five years in row from 2012. We had two years of intermission when we were relegated to J2 in 2013 but we engaged in promotional activity in Indonesia, Myanmar, etc. for prevailing football and giving training on skill in the Asia by our Academy organization. I realized a lot of people in Asia still remember Gama Osaka is one of the ACL champions. I am a firm believer in winning the ACL is must for raising J.League presence in the Asia. It has been a long time since we won the title in 2008 but we are fully committed to become the ACL champions as well as FCWC.