Osaka Mayor Wants Soccer Stadium Even If Japan's 2022 World Cup Bid Fails

Osaka Mayor Kunio Hiramatsu backs a plan to build an 80,000-seat sports stadium next to the city’s busiest rail station even if Japan fails in its bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

“It could also serve as a health and fitness center,” he said today at a news conference while representatives of FIFA, soccer’s governing body, visit Japan on an inspection tour. “The aim would be to build facilities where people can also enjoy the field inside the stadium even when no games are on.”

Hiramatsu, 61, said the Kita Yard redevelopment area, which covers 240,000 square meters (2.6 million square feet) on the north side of Osaka Station, should have “an environmental element” and house more than offices and shops. About 2.5 million people pass through Osaka Station each day, he said.

Japan, which jointly held the World Cup with South Korea in 2002, is vying with countries including Australia and Russia to host the soccer tournament in 2022. The sport’s ruling body in December will announce the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

The FIFA officials were also today scheduled to visit Osaka Castle’s Nishinomaru Park, proposed as a venue for fan gatherings, and a training facility in Sakai, a city in southern Osaka Prefecture. They travel to Tokyo tomorrow and visit South Korea, which is also bidding for the 2022 tournament, starting on July 22.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Le in Osaka at ale14@bloomberg.net.

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