The 45-minute get-together to round off the Welcome Tour took place at Japanese Football Association (JFA) headquarters, where Jones and FIFA Head of Women's Competitions Tatjana Haenni extended personal invitations to the FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, in the presence of the Japan women's national team and coach Norio Sasaki.
"Visiting Japan was a matter close to our hearts," Jones told a well-attended post-event news conference. "We wanted to make a concrete gesture expressing our unconditional support for the Japanese footballing family, just three months after the appalling catastrophe in Fukushima."
FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, German FA (DFB) President Dr. Theo Zwanziger, and the German women's national team expressed their solidarity in video messages. JFA President Junji Ogura said: "This magnificent gesture will not be quickly forgotten. Just 20 days before the Women's World Cup, we could not have assumed you would provide us with such a warm reception in Tokyo, helping our national players get into the spirit of the tournament.
Sasaki, who announced his final Japan squad prior to the event, added: "The sense of anticipation among our players for Germany 2011 is huge. It will not only be a perfectly organised World Cup, it will be a rousing event with a fantastic atmosphere, which will raise the standing of the women's game."
In addition to the get-together at JFA headquarters, Jones also set aside the first part of her 24-hour stay in Japan for a visit to the German School in Yokohama, where she travelled directly after an early-morning touchdown at Tokyo Narita airport.
LOC President Jones and FIFA have covered more than 100,000 kilometres and spent some 180 hours in the air on their visits to all 15 competing nations. The programme at every stop on the tour featured two events: a FIFA workshop on promoting the women's game, and the LOC welcome reception, attended by some 2,500 invited guests. Furthermore, the FIFA and LOC team visited community projects and kept media appointments.
The global trip included meetings with countless greats of the world game, including Holger Osieck (Australia), Wynton Rufer (New Zealand), Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Jens Lehmann (England), Patrik Andersson (Sweden) Jan-Age Fjortoft (Norway), Zico (Brazil), Carlos Alberto (Brazil), Carlos Valderrama (Colombia), Pavel Pardo (Mexico) and Mia Hamm (USA).
The LOC President was also received by President of Mexico Felipe Calderon and his wife Margarita Zavala, and Canadian First Lady Laureen Harper.
"As well as thanking all the associations involved, we are grateful to FIFA and the German Foreign Office for their support with this project," Jones said. "The enthusiasm generated by the tour among people from widely differing cultures has greatly exceeded our own expectations."
http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/news/newsid=1449441/index.html
