As a part of international sport contribution initiative ‘SPORT FOR TOMORROW’ directed by the Japanese government, Japan Sport Council (JSC) has specially assigned the Japan Football Association (JFA) to organise and support an international football event held in Sri Lanka. This sporting event is an international exchange programme for the youth generations of Japan and South Asian countries, and during this event the JFA will organise a coaching seminar for the youth development coaches. This exchange program will begin from 11 March, and the participating countries will include three U-16 National Teams of South Asia (Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan) and U-15 Japan National Team. This will be the third edition of Football exchange program involving the countries from Asia. One of the main reasons for holding this event is that the countries from South Asia lack the opportunity to participate in the international football competitions compared to the other regions in Asia. Therefore, the primary goal for this exchange is set to foster the development of youth football in this region.

Outline

Dates

Saturday 11 – Tuesday 14 March 2017

Venue

Racecourse Ground (Sri Lanka / Colombo)

Participating Teams

U-16 National Teams of South Asia (Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan) and U-15 Japan National Team

Youth Tournament

Four teams with 18 players and 6 staff members compete in a round-robin format

Special Course

JFA will organise a coaching seminar for the coaches from participating countries in this event and the Sri Lankan coaches who is in charge of youth development.

SPORTS FOR TOMORROW

‘SPORTS FOR TOMORROW’ is an international sport contribution initiative by the Japanese government announced during the IOC session by Prime Minister ABE Shinzo in order to promote their bidding activities for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo. In the seven years staring from 2014 and until 2020, this program promotes ‘SPORT’ to more than 10 million people and over 100 nations, focusing their primary efforts in the developing countries and at the same time spreading the value of ‘SPORT’ across different generations and countries in the world.